Avenging Angels
by Theodur
Summary: Follow the adventures of Leah, a Bhaalspawn and a priestess of Milil, as together with her friends she travels the lands of Amn, seeking fame, adventure and romance... and trying to escape the shadow of her dark parentage.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This is a story I started writing in the winter of Year 2011, simply as a writing exercise after a long hiatus from fan fiction. It was something of a warm-up before starting to write my Dragon Age based stories. Only now, two and a half years later, I happened to find this still sitting on my hard drive and after lengthy deliberations, I've decided to just post it for the hell of it. I wrote eight chapters of it before moving on to other stuff, but if there's any interest in BG fiction these days at all, I might very well come back to this story at some point later._

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**Chapter 1 **

Everything was silent, except for the occasional and very distant clanging of chains or heavy steps of the guardian golems. From one of the cages at the back of the room, green slanted eyes of an imprisoned half-elven female keenly observed the all too familiar surroundings, awaiting the inevitable turn of the events that was about to occur.

Jaheira's worried stare was focused on her young charge, sitting in a similar cage to her own, but in the very centre of the hall that was their prison. Leah, foster child of her dear friend Gorion and one of the Sorlyn, the title by which the priesthood of Milil were known as, sat there numbly, like Jaheira awaiting the arrival of their gruesome captor.

All her senses regarding the passage of time having eroded long ago, the only points of reference left were the visits of their captor, accompanied by several golems, one to bring them meagre servings of rations, just enough to barely sustain them, another one to open the doors to Leah's cage and remove the struggling girl and carry her away, their twisted captor following like a dark, menacing shadow.

The druidess cast another look at the young woman in the other cage, her heart filling with sorrow and bitter anger. Leah's lovely chestnut brown hair had lost all of its sheen, now a shapeless tangle, filled with crusted grime and blood. The tattered rags revealed more reasons to worry, the girl had been a little on the thin side as it was, but now the way her ribs nearly protruded through her skin was frightening. Jaheira herself felt incredibly filthy and weak as a result of malnourishment, but at least she had been spared something that Leah hadn't, the frequent treatment in the hands of her captor.

Countless scars and burns, many untreated wounds covered the young woman's body, Leah herself had healed some of them, but lately she had begun growing apathetic and didn't seem to care about erasing the awful scarring because their captor would simply give her new ones every time he took her away. Jaheira had tried to pray to Silvanus, but had found it increasingly difficult, their connection growing weaker with every passing day. Leah still kept the habit of praying every time after she had regained her senses from the drawn out torture sessions.

But now it was that time again. The dreaded footsteps approached, doors were flung open as the golems strode in, overseen by the tall man in the leather mask, their mysterious captor. Bowl with some revolting substance in it was thrown through the bars of her cage, but she paid no attention to it, her stare chained to the gruesome scene before her as the other golem pried Leah's cage open and reached out to grab her. For the first time since their imprisonment, the young priestess showed absolutely no sign of trying to resist, in quiet acceptance she even reached out and allowed herself to be scooped up easily.

Had Leah finally given up? Panic rushed through Jaheira's frame. "Do NOT give in, Leah, do you hear me?" she shouted, but the girl remained impassive in the golem's tight grasp. "Do not surrender to him, I beg you!"

For a moment their captor spared her a quick notice, the freezing chill of blue eyes penetrating through the leather mask taking her aback, but he immediately turned away and she could feel his humiliating dismissal of her as completely insignificant, less that of a fly on a wall.

"Monster!" she screamed in a shrill voice that she could barely recognize as her own, her throat parched and dry. "Leave her! Take me instead! Take me... I beg you! I order you!" she pulled the bars frantically while screaming, but they would not budge, silently laughing at her pathetic, tired efforts. If only she could share some of Leah's pain, if only she could make it easier for the young woman to survive through this ordeal... but no, she did not have the same unique heritage, and no doubt that was the reason why their sadistic captor found Leah so interesting.

Jaheira sagged against the bars, feeling empty and deflated. Her eyes turned to the only other cage in the room that wasn't empty. A massive giant of a man sat inside, his bald head covered by purple tattoos. With his arms wrapped around his knees, he just sat there, unmoving. "You!" Jaheira hissed. "Can't you do something, you big lummox? Leah is losing the fight, we need to help her!" The big man did not react. "Minsc! Snap out of it!" she shouted.

The large ranger slowly turned his head to face her. His mournful eyes told Jaheira all she needed to know, the giant would be of no help to her in escaping. The death of Dynaheir, his travelling companion and a witch of Rashemen, seemed to be replaying before Minsc's eyes over and over again, putting him into a near catatonic state.

Brave, foolish Dynaheir. Not long after their imprisonment, she had managed to break free from her cage and nearly succeeded in freeing them all. Their captor had intervened just as she was about to let Minsc out of his cage, suddenly appearing behind her and then using his unparalleled array of magic to slaughter her right in front of the raging Minsc, her blood and body parts staining the floor of his cage and all across the room. The captor had not even sent anyone to clean up the mess, preferring to let the gruesomely mutilated corpse to lie there as a warning, and the smell of rotting flesh, together with the stench of urine and excrements had made their conditions maddening.

Soon enough, the first cry of pain reached her from far away, somewhere in the bowels of this accursed dungeon. Each and every following desperate cry stabbed at her heart as she cursed herself, hating her helplessness. She was failing her promise to Gorion, the promise to keep Leah safe, and she was too weak to do anything about it.

She couldn't help but wonder what exactly did their captor hope to achieve by torturing the young woman so harshly. Sometimes, when speaking at her through the bars of the cage, she could hear him muttering something about unlocking Leah's potential. No doubt he had meant the Bhaal taint. Did by torturing her he tried to force her accursed essence into somehow manifesting itself? If that was so, the need to put a stop to all this was even greater, everything that eroded Leah's resistance to the taint was undesirable. She was a kind, gentle soul, her measured compassion often putting Jaheira to shame, Bhaal's hold on her was unnoticeable as of yet. If her captor would strip it all away...

Jaheira shuddered, her thoughts turning in another direction, one even more frightening to her than what was currently being done to her young charge. Her slender fingers traced the outline of her wedding ring, thoughts racing to the fate of her missing husband, Khalid. The fact that he wasn't being held here with the rest of them was ominous and she felt a knot tightening at the pit of her stomach every time it occurred to her. Why would their captor take him elsewhere, when Khalid couldn't have held any special interest to the masked man?

She could only recall vague memories of that night outside Baldur's Gate when their group came under attack from an overwhelming force of assassins and what seemed like more terrifying creatures of the night, ones they were ill prepared to handle, powerful as they were. They had targeted her and Leah first, aiming to disable the healers and she remembered being stabbed in her left side just as someone smashed her head from behind, knocking her on the ground. As she lay there, slowly losing her consciousness, somewhere she thought she had heard Khalid's cry, a dim outline of an assassin appearing behind him and stabbing him in the back with great force.

If that vision wasn't just a figment of her imagination, would the lackeys of their captor bother with healing Khalid's grave injuries? Or attempt to resurrect him? She shuddered at that last thought, shaking her head as if to remove such thoughts. And yet, sometimes she could feel a strange coldness pass through her, telling her that he was no longer among the world of living. And yet sometimes hope prevailed and she dreamed of him imprisoned in a cage just like hers, waiting patiently to be reunited with her...

Sparing a glance at the still apathetic Minsc, she was certain of one thing. Regardless of Khalid's fate, she would not allow herself to withdraw like that. She still had her duty, her obligation to keep Leah safe, and she would do anything to fulfil her promise to Gorion. She would keep the girls safe.

Girls... indeed, her thoughts shifted again, this time to another young woman, an impish pink-haired rogue and Leah's best friend Imoen, someone who had been absent since their capture just like Khalid. However, distressingly, sometimes when Leah was back in her cage, trying to recover from a bout of torture or experiments as their captor liked to term his horrendous treatment of her, Jaheira could often hear pained screams of another victim, someone that seemed to be a young woman. Was it Imoen, Jaheira was not certain, but there was good chance of it. But why would this madman torture HER? She did not carry any taint within her, what did he hope to achieve by torturing this innocent child?

Sometime during her ponderings, she realized that Leah's screaming had stopped. Few minutes later, there were the heavy footsteps again and shortly after, the guardian golem dropped the young woman like a sack of potatoes in her cage. Fresh blood stained her forehead as she groaned weakly, a sight that never failed to fill Jaheira with murderous rage, but all she could do was to try and pull at the bars of her cage and scream obscenities at the masked man who ignored her as usual.

Something was different this time, though. Their captor suddenly turned away from watching Leah's desperate attempts to recover, something else attracting his attention. Jaheira tried to sharpen her hearing as much as she could. Yes, there was something akin to... explosions in the distance? What could it mean?

"They act sooner than I had anticipated," the man said in his customary cold, precise voice. "No matter, they will only prove a slight delay." He then turned around and left, the golem trailing after him.

Faint glimmer of hope rose somewhere deep within Jaheira's chest. Someone was trying to invade this dungeon, take battle to their captor, and no matter if they were a friend or foe, she could not imagine that anything could be worse than this monster in whose care they had been stuck for too long. _But first, the attackers need to succeed,_ she realized, watching Leah slowly get up from the floor of her cage and sit on her knees, readying herself for prayer, like she did after every torture session.

Leah's voice, smooth like velvet, rich and soothing, no matter what atrocities had been performed on her, broke the disheartening silence, as always her prayers to Milil taking a shape of a song.

_"This rust covered cage,"_ she sang, sounding more haunted than ever. _"Is home now for me." _

_"But my home is the Heartlands. And always will be..."_ Images of the Sword Coast swam up before Jaheira's eyes, the mighty forests of Cloakwood, the rocky edges of the Cloud Peaks, the stormy waves of the Sea of Swords washing against the cliffs on which Candlekeep stood proudly. Tears welled up in her eyes as the memories of nature's beauty that had been taken from the druidess overwhelmed her.

_"Someday you'll return to me... your valleys and your farms,"_ suddenly Leah's voice broke as she collapsed on her knees, shaking in a fit of quiet sobs.

"Silvanus..." Jaheira whispered, tears streaking down her grime covered cheeks, her grip on the bars tightening. Another explosion went off, this one far closer than the others, rocking their cages slightly. The invaders were advancing, it seemed.

_I will find you, Khalid. We will lead the girls out of here alive, this I swear,_ she swore solemnly. _And then... then I will find our captor and he will pay for all he has done to Leah. My wrath will be terrible indeed._

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_A/N: Leah's song is based on the lyrics of 'Brothers In Arms' by Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Leah sat on the stone tiles of the floor, ponderously staring at the swirly surface of the portal ahead of her. She absentmindedly twirled a lock of her hair, noting with disgust how it stuck to her fingers, full of sweat and dirt, a sticky, revolting mess. Earlier, while escaping their prison, they had encounter a genie, possibly trapped like they were, and the sadistic creature had tormented her with riddles. Leah had been unable to focus on anything the genie had asked, her attention captivated by the crystalline cave in which the genie resided, and more specifically, on the tantalizing pools of clear water surrounding the cave.

In the end, Jaheira had been the one to pull her away, and despite the urgent need for cleaning herself if just a little, she had to be thankful to the druidess for keeping her head and not giving into the temptation of removing their dirty, rotting rags and just allowing themselves to immerse into the soothing pools. To find Khalid and then to escape, that was their only goal and they could not allow themselves to be distracted by anything.

She raised her head and looked at the young woman sitting next to her, a faraway look on Imoen's usually cheerful face. She had been the one to free Leah and later help her release Minsc and Jaheira, but now, it seemed as if the young rogue was starting to slowly succumb to depression, her mental state a constant worry for Leah. Imoen had always been the one to lift her spirits when she was feeling glum, and now she needed to be strong for her best friend in return. But whatever was to happen, what Imoen had recently said in one of her more lucid moments, Leah realized those words to be very true. They could never go back to the way they were.

"Imoen?" she asked her friend. "Have you rested a little? Can we move on?"

Imoen answered with a solemn nod. Leah's worried expression must have shown, because Imoen then flashed a forced grin at her, saying "Yep, all good to go," in a too cheery voice for the occasion.

"Jaheira?" she looked at the druid, sitting a few paces away, her frame unmoving but the frantic darting of her eyes giving away her true feelings. If not for hers and Imoen's sake, Jaheira would have long rushed through the portal, hoping that Khalid's prison might lay behind it. The patience she displayed was not often a common characteristic of the stubborn druidess, but Leah was grateful for it this time.

"I am ready," came the expected reply.

"What about you Minsc? And Boo?" Leah turned to the last member of their group, smiling as she watched the giant ranger quietly conversing with his puzzling animal companion. Dynaheir's death had nearly broken his will to live, but after Leah and Imoen had managed to get him out of his cage, Minsc had slowly returned to something resembling his old self, the protective instincts to guard Leah and Imoen overcoming his personal grief.

"Minsc and Boo stand ready to face the evil portal... or whatever evil lurks behind it... even if the portal itself might not be evil... eh, Boo says I'm rambling again," the Rashemi looked a little confused, but then smiled at Leah after receiving a squeak of encouragement from his hamster.

"Very well then," Leah rose from the ground, picking up the crude club and dented buckler she had salvaged from some duergar lackey's of Irenicus. Her face twisted at the memory of the name that they had just learned, the name of their captor. "Hopefully this doesn't lead to the Underdark or some Nether plane," she added, before plunging into the swirly vortex.

After the dizzying spell had passed and her vision slowly cleared, Leah realized that she was lying at the bottom of a heavy heap of her companions piled over her, staring at the leather boots of an armed stranger, few feet away from her. Groaning, she tried to crawl out from under the pile, her eyes drifting upwards to meet the stranger's face. Curious pair of narrow, dark eyes of undoubtedly eastern origin looked down at her.

"So, there is sanity in this place after all," the man said, his lips tugging into a barely perceptible smile. "It would appear you are not in league with the evil that dwells down here. If that is so, then Yoshimo begs your assistance."

With a groan, Leah shook the pair of heavy legs likely belonging to Minsc from her back and stood up, brushing dust away from her tattered leather armor as she did so. "Yoshimo?" she asked. The name was certainly Kozakuran, matching his appearance. "Are you a fellow prisoner? How did you come to be here?"

"Ah... that is somewhat of an embarrassing tale, considering my profession," Yoshimo confessed, looking somewhat sour. "The trade of a bounty hunter usually has me springing trap on an unsuspecting victim, yet this time the roles were reversed."

Jaheira had been keeping quiet for long enough, and Leah was almost wondering when her more forceful friend would enter the conversation, but finally the druidess spoke. "And what sort of interest would our captor have in someone like you?" she peered at the bounty hunter with her customary suspicion.

"I would have liked him to explain that as well," Yoshimo winced. "I have my ideas on the matter, but time is precious. Do you truly wish to discuss the politics of Athkatla's underworld right now?"

Jaheira tapped her boot impatiently. "We will make time."

"Wait, Athkatla?" Leah intervened quickly. "Are you sure we're in Amn?"

"My last memories include going to sleep in my room in the Copper Coronet," the Kara-turan explained patiently, sensing that Jaheira would not drop the matter without sufficient explanation. "I could have been drugged and then magically transported who knows where, so I can't guarantee to you that we are still in Athkatla. As for why... in the last few months, there have been reports of many rogues in the employ of the Shadow Thieves..."

"Shadow Thieves?" suddenly Imoen piped up. "Leah and I ran into some of them down in Baldur's Gate... can't say I care much for their type. So you're one of them?"

"No, I am, what you might call a freelancer," Yoshimo said, making a small bow to Imoen. "What I was about to say was, many of the Shadow Thieves have been going missing in the past months, suspected to be either kidnapped or killed by some rival guild."

"And you believe that you were taken by this rival guild," Jaheira stated. "I suppose this... Irenicus," she almost spat the name. "Would be their leader."

"I have not been able to learn much after my capture," Yoshimo noted, with a hint of disappointment. "But I do know that the ones storming this dungeon right now are several groups of Shadow Thief assassins with a 'stab anyone who isn't a Shadow Thief' policy. They are the ones standing between us and the exit, which is why I believe a cooperation would be mutually beneficial."

"Well… he makes sense, I suppose," Leah admitted before turning towards her trusted companions of old. "What do you think?" she asked.

Imoen looked tired and didn't seem to care one way or another. "Whatever... guess it increases the odds of our escape, eh?" she finally said after Leah had prodded her.

"Boo's whiskers are twitching mightily from the sight of you, shifty little man!" Minsc offered with a cheerful yell, poking Boo almost into Yoshimo's face and making the startled rogue take a few steps back. "But Boo also says you are a warrior of no small skill! Minsc would be honoured to fight alongside you."

"If he is less honest in his motives than a bounty hunter normally would be, then perhaps leaving him to stalk behind our backs would be an even worse decision," Jaheira finally admitted, having watched Yoshimo for a while with a piercing stare. Yoshimo, to his credit, had managed to avoid flinching. "Yes, I would say let him join. But make no mistake, your every move will be watched," she warned.

"I have been told that the Great Yoshimo has such effect on the ladies, yes," the Kozakuran grinned. Imoen snickered aloud and was silenced by Jaheira's stare, while Leah escaped that particular punishment, having only allowed herself an inward chuckle.

"Welcome to the group then, Yoshimo," Leah said, shaking the man's hand firmly. "I am Leah, cleric to the Lord of Song. This is my feels-like-a-sister, Imoen, the best rogue north of Athkatla," she drew Imoen closer, affectionately ruffling her hair. "The suspicious one is Jaheira, our resident druidess and the voice of reason in this group," Jaheira just snorted at that description before allowing herself a small smile. "And those two are Minsc and Boo, the most fearsome evil butt-kicking duo to ever leave Rashemen."

"Rashemen, I thought those tattoos looked familiar," Yoshimo said, eyeing Minsc with increasing curiosity. "You are far from home, my friend."

"Minsc and Boo left on a dajemma to..." suddenly the big ranger fell silent, sharp pain flashing in his eyes. "But we failed, didn't we Boo," he added quietly.

"Our journey isn't at an end yet, Minsc. Chin up and let's move onwards," Leah tried to sound cheerful.

"Before we pass through that door," Yoshimo stepped aside, pointing to the passage behind his back. "Allow me a small warning. I have scouted the room ahead, and it is filled with great number of small fiends... I believe you call them mephits. I took note of some odd contraptions, portals that kept spawning the little beasts. It would be prudent to take care of the portals first, lest we get overwhelmed."

"Good thinking. Thankfully we have our Anti-Mephitator, otherwise called Minsc and Boo," Leah smiled at the proud looking Minsc, brandishing his new sword. Seeing the Sword of Chaos still conjured up painful memories, the images of it in Sarevok's arms, using the weapon to stab through Gorion's heart. But she could not allow these emotions to stand in the way of practicality, Minsc could use the powerfully enchanted weapon to greatly aid in their escape, so she had decided against throwing it away.

"Minsc, Yoshimo and myself should charge in and take the brunt of the mephit onslaught," Jaheira suggested. "Leah, you and Imoen focus on destroying those portals."

"Ah, my friend, I am not as comfortable on the front lines, I believe my skills would better be utilized otherwise," Yoshimo suggested, earning a frown from Jaheira.

"Very well, I will leave that up to your own discretion," the druidess said curtly, together with Minsc taking a position at the door and waiting until the others readied themselves. When they all were prepared, Jaheira threw the door open and Minsc charged in first with a loud berserker cry, immediately attracting the attention of the dozen mephits inside.

The ensuing fight was a short one, Minsc and Jaheira wading through the crowds of squeaking mephits with long-practiced efficiency, even if Jaheira time and again had to be mindful to get out of the way of Minsc's more erratic sword swings. Yoshimo chose to stay a little in the shadows, his bowstring sending out arrows with deadly precision and time from time again he switched to his katana to quickly behead a confused mephit that had just emerged from one of the portals. Leah was content to stay in her customary support role, casting blessings to strengthen the resolve of her friends while moving from one portal to another and meticulously shattering them with her wooden club. Imoen moved with her, covering Leah from attacks by some stragglers that managed to sneak by Minsc or Jaheira, not that there were many.

Soon enough, the mephits lay dead, the portals smashed and the whole room oozing with acrid, sulphuric smell. Imoen and Yoshimo, the two rogues, went over the various chests, searching for better weapons or armor to salvage. Leah slowly wandered over to the other side of the room, which looked almost like a laboratory of sorts, shelves and tables covered with jars, and the strong scent of formaldehyde overwhelming the sulphuric stench of the mephits.

Then she noticed it, on one of the tables, remains of something that had once been a man, amongst bloodied surgical implements. The man's armor and clothes had been stripped and laid out on a rickety chair next to the table, green embroidered cloak on top of the pile. _Looks just like the cloak that Jaheira bought him the last day before we left Baldur's Gate, Khalid really liked it..._ then it hit her, like the combined weight of thousand bricks. She nearly cried out aloud, feeling all colour draining from her face as she turned around, away from the grizzly scene.

The ever-observant druidess noticed her reaction immediately. "What is it, Leah, what did you find?" she strode towards her purposefully.

"No..." Leah groaned, desperately grasping Jaheira's hand and trying to prevent her from walking closer.

"Let me see," the druidess surged past her, advancing towards the table. Her last few steps echoed in the room like horrifying gongs of imminent apocalypse. There was silence after that, so long and overwhelming, the only thing Leah could hear was the sound of her own ragged breathing.

With a heavy sound, Jaheira dropped on her knees next to the table. "So it is true," she said, her voice harsh, almost alien. "You bastard! How dare you do something like this to me!" she finally gave her emotions free reign, yelling with bitter fury. "Khalid... you swore to never leave me! How could you..." then the tears finally came with a flood, Leah feeling her own cheeks becoming moist, the clenching pain in her chest making it impossible to stand and she hobbled over to where Jaheira sat on her knees, the half-elf's shoulders shaking as she was fighting sobs.

The others had joined them by now, standing around the table, silent as eerie ghosts, watching the symphony of grief playing out before their eyes. Leah reached out with her hand, about to place it on Jaheira's shoulder, when the druidess suddenly whirled around, anger in her reddened, tear-stained eyes. "Get away from me," she snarled. "I do not need your comfort! The only thing I need... is him. Can you give me that?"

Leah knew she could not. One look at the desecrated body had been enough to tell her that resurrection was practically impossible. "I am sorry... it is all because of me," she managed.

Heavy backhanded slap with the rough metal-shod gauntlets caught her completely by surprise. "You are damn right about that!" she heard Jaheira shouting, as with her tongue she tentatively probed the loose teeth in her aching left cheek. At least they hadn't been knocked out outright.

_I don't care if she beats me silly or not, it can't possibly hurt as much as she is hurting right now._ Her head lowered, she could only whisper one word. "Gorion."

Somewhere within Jaheira, the memory must have resounded with the druidess, realizing that the feeling of desperate loss, the anchor of her life itself, was not something unknown to the young priestess. Leah found herself being pulled into the embrace of the older woman, as they cried into each other's shoulders.

"Perhaps I could offer Boo to comfort them," she could hear Minsc musing aloud.

"I am not sure that is such a good idea, my large friend," and there was Yoshimo, placing his hand on Minsc's shoulder and wisely stopping him.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Jaheira," Imoen said, sitting next to them. "I know this is hard." Leah could feel Jaheira's embrace on her tightening, Imoen's words bringing the opposite of comfort, but the druidess managed to not show any reaction. Unfortunately, Imoen took it as a sign that she should try harder. "Besides, I can tell you that Khalid didn't suffer."

Leah felt Jaheira push her away as she turned towards Imoen. "What are you babbling about, child?" her voice angry.

"I'm not a child, and I'm not babbling!" Imoen exclaimed in the completely wrong moment to rediscover her defiance. "I was there when Irenicus did all these things to him, I can tell you that Khalid was long dead when he started..."

"This is insane! You watched him do this? Why? Why would he do this?" Jaheira rose, towering over Imoen.

"I don't know," Imoen also got up to her feet, but she was now covering, starting to sob as she spoke. "But he would cut and say 'Do you see?' He forced me to watch as he just kept cutting all the time saying 'Do you see?' 'Do you see?'"

"Why are you telling me this, you fool child?" Jaheira screamed, rage and pain equal in her voice. Leah bolted to her feet, fearing that the druidess might attack Imoen. "Do you honestly believe I would find any of this comforting?"

"I... I... I just wanted to..." Imoen's face suddenly fell, as she broke into tears. Without saying anything else, she whipped around and ran out of the room, in the direction from which according to Yoshimo the Shadow Thief assassins were advancing.

"Yoshimo! Minsc! After her!" Leah barked, but Yoshimo was already on the run, Minsc closely following.

Jaheira was standing in front of her, still seething, stonily staring in the direction Imoen had ran off to. Despite her better judgment, Leah dared to place her hand on the half-elf's shoulder. "Please don't hit me again, Jaheira," she said quietly.

That seemed to register with the druidess and when she regarded Leah again, the anger from her face had evaporated. She put her hand over Leah's on her shoulder, squeezing it briefly. "Would you... like me to say a prayer?" Leah asked.

"No, thank you," Jaheira whispered. "It is something for me to do myself." With that she dropped down on her knees again.

"Sil... Silvanus guide the light to the source," she began unsteadily. "Take this man to what he justly deserves. By... nature's will, what was given is returned, what was turmoil... is now peace. Khalid of my heart, let my love... my love guide the way..." she broke down in sobs towards the end, Leah helping her back to her feet.

"We cannot linger here for much longer," Jaheira finally said, having recomposed herself.

"I know, but don't expect me to rush you in a moment like this."

"Thank you, Leah. There will be payment for what has been done here, this I swear, but it will be in a different place and on different terms," the druidess said solemnly, before turning back to the table one last time. "Just one last thing," she said, reaching out to touch her husband's cold, mutilated hand, gently slipping off the wedding ring off his finger before safely pocketing it away.

Turning away for the final time, Jaheira took the green cloak from the chair, looking at it with pain in her eyes, but somehow managing to resist crying. "He never really got to use it at all," she spoke quietly, wiping off her wet cheeks on the fabric and then tucking it behind her armor. "Come. Let us leave this place."

With heavy heart, Leah turned to follow her friend. Gorion, Dynaheir and now Khalid... so many dead already because of her damned heritage. And somehow, she could not shake off the sinking feeling that this might not be the last time she would be forced to deal with a loss...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Jaheira regarded the young woman silently sitting amidst the bloodstained rubble from a destroyed section of what looked to be a marketplace inside a large city. Leah hadn't showed any intention to rise to her feet and move ever since the group of cowled spellcasters had shown up and after a bloody struggle spirited themselves away, taking Irenicus and Imoen with them. The young rogue's only crime had been to cast a simple, hopeless magic missile at their captor, but somehow the cowled ones did not seem to be the sort interested in details, especially considering how many of their kin had been slaughtered by Irenicus during their short battle.

But as time went on, Jaheira's patience slowly began to wear thin. She had been willing to give the girl time to gather herself, the shock to see her friend taken again was undoubtedly paralysing, but now they had to be already focusing on planning how to get Imoen back… and how to reach Irenicus, of course.

She waded past the stray rocks and what seemed to be remains of several disintegrated Shadow Thieves. "Leah," she said sternly, attracting the girl's attention. "It is time we remove ourselves from this place. The guards are already gathering and looking at us oddly, and I do not wish to answer their questions."

Wordlessly Leah rose to her feet. "Sorry," she said. "Do we even know where we are, is this Athkatla as we thought?"

Jaheira looked around more thoroughly. The buildings did look vaguely familiar, the style of architecture reminded her a little of Tethyr, but this place... no, this place she knew, it was only the colourful circus tent nearby that was fooling her memory. "Yes, I am sure of it. This is the Promenade, the chief marketplace in Athkatla," she let her eyes wander over the scene of carnage. "It would appear that Irenicus has buried great many merchant stalls along with their customers under all this rock."

"You can really tell that this is Athkatla just by a few buildings?" Leah wondered.

"My work has taken me here quite often in the past," the druidess explained. "It must be no more than six cycles since Kha-... Khalid and I were here the last time." Leah looked about to say something, but Jaheira turned away and cast her eyes towards the clear blue sky above. "Khalid? Silvanus, let him hear my vow... if I must, I shall empty this city of all within to find his killer... so do I swear."

"You won't have to do it alone," Leah said behind her.

"Good. I had hoped you would feel this way," the druidess nodded, as they both returned to Yoshimo and Minsc standing a little aside and arguing about something.

Seeing them approach, Minsc addressed them vehemently. "Boo is faced with a horrible conundrum, even though Minsc is not sure what a conundrum is, perhaps some sort of very hard nut," that made Jaheira and Leah both smile slightly. "Minsc is prepared to chase after the evil wizard immediately! He might be leering over little Imoen as we speak! But the little shifty man here says Minsc and Boo should be patient and not rush headlong into danger like lemmings off the cliff!"

"I am sure the ladies will agree that we must exercise caution, regroup and make our plans," Yoshimo said. "This would be best achieved while laying low in some inconspicuous locale. I believe I know a place just like that."

Jaheira hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure she trusted the rogue that much yet to let him be the one to make such decision. But she also could not see any motives he might have to wish them ill. "Very well, after we have taken care of some of the business here at the Promenade, you may take us to this hideout. Truth be told, I was not certain you would be staying with us," she added.

"I bear no love for the man, even if I have less grave reasons to hunt him than you do," Yoshimo explained, his eyes appearing genuine. "I would follow you if you would have me."

"Of course, Yoshimo," Leah said quickly, making Jaheira wondering whether the girl still worried that she would be trying to assume leadership of the party. During their travels across the Sword Coast, this had been a rather large issue constantly hanging between the two of them, but fortunately Leah's own growing competence had resolved it and the young priestess did not have to worry about the rivalry resuming. _Perhaps I should actually tell her that at some point,_ a thought occurred to the druidess.

"You mentioned some other business here, Jaheira?" the priestess asked.

"Yes, first of all, does anyone have injuries that would be best healed immediately? I think Leah and I both ran out of healing spells a long time ago."

"Minsc and Boo are ready to kick evil's buttocks, no healing for us!" the giant bellowed.

"A few light cuts and nicks, nothing that would hinder me in my task," Yoshimo smiled.

"Just generally bruised all over but I'll be fine," Leah added.

"Very well," Jaheira dropped to her knees and started sorting through their belongings. "Yoshimo, come here," the Kara-turan was quick to respond to her urgings. She handed him a sack full of mostly gems, some scrolls and weaponry they had no immediate use for. "You look to be savvy enough to handle yourself with the local merchant ilk. Try to get us a reasonable return for this. Minsc, go with him."

"And Boo?"

"...by Silvanus, Minsc **and** Boo go with Yoshimo," she sighed, ignoring Leah's chuckle.

"What about us?" the girl asked, seemingly unfazed by Jaheira's attempted glare.

"You are coming with me," Jaheira grabbed her by the hand and led her across the rubble to the closest untouched section of the grand Promenade, then up the stone steps until they reached a tiny door between the entrances to two upper class inns the services of which they could not afford yet. Before Leah had any chance to ask more questions or protest, Jaheira pushed her through the tiny doorframe into a dark and miserable looking room that held a pathetic looking shrine, an emaciated looking man in rags kneeling on a rug before it.

Jaheira dropped a few coins on the collection tray next to the shrine, and the sound of copper seemed to awaken the skeletal looking priest. "Welcome to the temple of Ilmater," he croaked, getting up from the floor. "Your kindness is appreciated. What can my gentle liege do for you?"

"She needs healing," Jaheira pointed at Leah, the girl's eyes widening.

"What? I said I'll be fine," she protested.

Jaheira stomped over to Leah and unceremoniously took the girl's chin in her hand, turning Leah's head to face her. "You are not going anywhere with that bruise," she said, lightly laying a finger on the injured cheek that by now had grown an interesting shade of purple. From the way an errant tear escaped from Leah's eye even at the lightest touch, the girl had clearly been lying when she claimed that it did not cause her any discomfort. "Do not be stubborn, you will not create the best impression when you look like some sort of barbarian that wears his scars with pride or some such nonsense."

"I will not create the best impression from not having had a bath in… probably months, and smelling like an old latrine!" Leah argued.

"Ignore her, priest," Jaheira commanded. "I want that cheek of hers healed now."

"Fine... fine, if it's that important to you," the girl finally relented.

As Jaheira silently watched the priest cast his spells on Leah, the swelling quickly diminishing and skin resuming its normal colour, she wondered if Leah truly didn't understand why she wanted the marks of this injury gone as soon as possible. _I accused her of being guilty over my husband's death and then I punched her in the face. There will... be need for apologies, even if Leah will claim she does not need them. I do. _

"Satisfied now?" Leah turned to face her again, while at the same time touching her cheek with her fingers. It was obviously no longer causing her any pain, and the girl looked relieved herself.

"I will not be satisfied until the rest of your scars are healed as well," Jaheira told her quietly, making sure the priest did not overhear. Having thanked the old man, she pulled Leah outside again. "You try to hide it, but I know that your body is covered with markings. Now, I imagine you might be uncomfortable letting this old codger work on those, but tomorrow morning you will fix as many as you can yourself, and I will help you if needed. Is that clear?"

Leah seemed taken aback by Jaheira's ferocity over the issue. "Why is that so important? Surely my healing will be more needed elsewhere."

"We both have plenty of memories from that dungeon, enough to haunt us several lifetimes. You don't need to carry with you even more reminders, ones that are in your power to erase easily."

"I hadn't thought about it like that," Leah shrugged. "But I guess I'll defer to your wisdom again. Shall we go look for Minsc and Yoshimo?"

"Minsc and Yoshimo **and** Boo," Jaheira said with irritation. "Blasted rodent."

Leah grinned before pointing in the distance. "I think I can see them there, bargaining with that... err, large woman."

"Good choice on Yoshimo's part," the druidess nodded, looking at how Yoshimo bowed and wildly gesticulated to the woman who was struggling to get in any counter argument. They waited for a while and soon enough the two men and hamster returned, Yoshimo proudly presenting her with two reasonably full sacks of coins. Jaheira simply nodded at Leah, refusing to take the money, and Yoshimo handed them over to the slightly surprised priestess. _I think she needs to feel that I still trust and rely on her. I will not let her collapse on me, she has led us this far and I will pull her onwards by her hair and screaming if she refuses to lead us now. _

"Did you learn anything else of importance while talking with the merchants?" Jaheira inquired before they turned to leave.

"It is what we thought," Yoshimo replied. "There were sightings of groups of Shadow Thieves entering the sewers leading to the dungeon. And the ones who took your friend, I'm afraid they were the Cowled Wizards."

"Cowled Wizards? I assume that means trouble?" Leah looked worried.

"Spellcasters of the highest order here in Amn, in fact, the only ones allowed to use magic in public. We just saw what happens to those who ignore that rule," Jaheira said.

"By Milil, it was just a harmless magic missile," Leah groaned in exasperation. "Do they have some representatives we can appeal to?"

"We can make inquiries later," Jaheira stated. "But I would not hold my breath. They are not closely affiliated to any branch of the government, and operate almost outside of the law. And the Council seems to prefer it that way."

"Sounds like a wonderful land, especially if you're a spellcaster," Leah grumbled.

"Oh, you have no idea. But I think we are done here," Jaheira said then. "Yoshimo, lead us to this mysterious hideout of yours."

"This way, ladies, berserkers and hamsters," Yoshimo bowed before leading the way towards the northern gate out of the Promenade. "The enchanting Slums District and the glamorous Copper Coronet awaits us!"

* * *

Several hours later, Leah led her friends out of a rundown and completely unremarkable slums dwelling that served as a hideout of one Gaelan Bayle. This Gaelan had jumped them the very moment they had entered the slums, the encounter suggesting that they had been watched ever since their exit from that accursed dungeon. In any case, Gaelan Bayle had an offer to make to Leah and her friends. For _mere_ twenty thousand gold, a powerful group of individuals that everyone already knew were the Shadow Thieves, even if Gaelan stubbornly avoided speaking their name, would bring them to Imoen and Irenicus.

Now, even though Leah did not know much about the Shadow Thieves, she was certain of one thing. Even if twenty thousand gold was a huge amount, an organization like this thieves guild didn't truly need it. It was likely simply a deception, asking for something else in order to hide their true motivations. Whether they wanted her allegiance, aid with something, at the moment it was anyone's guess, but if one took into account the bloody guild war the Shadow Thieves were currently embroiled within...

Leah believed Yoshimo, Jaheira and Bayle when they all claimed that the only organizations with enough power to help them were either the Cowled Wizards or the Shadow Thieves, and the wizards had never been known to be cooperative in such matters. So she had agreed to the deal, as for now she was not risking with anything, she had no gold to pay them yet and likely would not have enough for... Milil only knew how long. And since they hadn't been issued with Shadow Thief representative badges, Leah hoped that the other guild, whoever they were, would leave them alone in their bloody struggle to conquer the underworld of Athkatla.

Bayle had mentioned several opportunities for them to earn the required coin, amongst those a rather disturbing emergence of some cult that had most churches in Athkatla very concerned. Leah was considering asking Yoshimo or Jaheira to lead her to the Temple District right away, but then again, they had planned to go to this Copper Coronet, which was also reputed to have many job opportunities for the daring adventurer type.

In the end, Leah must have spent few moments too much during her musings, as Jaheira's snapping voice lashed at her like a whip. "So, where to now, fearless leader?"

"Eh, I'm no longer sure," Leah said, shrugging. "We were on our way to the Coronet, but now I'm wondering if maybe we shouldn't waste time and go pursue some of the leads Bayle threw at us."

"Well, you better decide soon, because we can't stand here all day and watch the grass grow while you're 'wondering'. It makes one think you were dropped as a child. Or kicked."

Leah turned her head to utter a biting retort, but then decided against it. "Well, if snapping at me makes you feel better, please do go on," she just said, turning her back to the rest of them and slowly walking off.

"Leah, please," Jaheira immediately jumped to follow her. "I was wrong to speak so at you. The stress must be getting to me, I will try to be more civil with you."

Leah turned around and smiled faintly. "Your apology is accepted. And, I think we'll go to the Copper Coronet, get something to eat, clean ourselves and have a good night's sleep before embarking on new adventures."

"Boo approves of this plan! It is much more comfortable to kick the buttocks of evil while wearing a clean loincloth!" Minsc agreed jovially.

"Err, that too," Leah smiled. "Yoshimo, lead us on please."

"We have arrived, my friend," the rogue said, pointing to his right. "This is the fabled Copper Coronet."

"What?" Leah was confused, staring at this strangest of... structures, for that was the only description that came to her mind. It was massive, taking up a whole block in the centre of the slums. Initially, it might have been a warehouse of sorts, then rebuilt or naturally evolved into something shapeless and abominable as tiny hovels and ramshackle houses had spread around it and on top of its low roof like festering boils, creating a truly unique appearance that was anything but appealing. "That is... the Copper Coronet?"

"The one and only," Yoshimo chuckled. "It has a certain charm, wouldn't you say?"

"Much like the rest of the slums, I suppose," Leah looked the other way from the Coronet at the rows of rundown houses, their squalid pallor depressing in its hopelessness, the beggars staring at them hopefully, children playing in the disgusting mud near the sewer drains... Jaheira's disdain for cities had never made much sense to Leah, but at this particular moment she was almost tempted to agree with her old friend.

Unfortunately for Leah, walking through the slums while not looking under one's feet was a dangerous undertaking. As they had nearly reached the entrance to the Coronet, Leah bumped into something small but sturdy and lost her balance, tripping over a dwarf and crashing into his large human companion.

"'ey, watch where ye be goin'," the dwarf cursed.

"Are you looking for trouble, girl?" the human seemed to have an even shorter fuse than the dwarf. "Well, either way, you've found it!" that said, he withdrew a wicked looking sword and reached out to grab her.

"Rrragh! No one harms little Leah while Minsc and Boo are around!" came the shout of rage while Leah nimbly ducked aside and out of Minsc's charge that nearly toppled his opponent.

"Now look what ye done, can't ye see dem be armed?" the dwarf shouted, picking up his axe. "Mr. F. don't like us killin' people in ta street, ye know."

"Help her with the dwarf," she heard Jaheira ordering Yoshimo, as Leah herself had to backpedal, trying to defend her kneecaps from the dwarf's vicious blows. While she was still wondering why Jaheira herself didn't wade into the fray, a column of lightning roared from the sky, striking the dwarf. Stunned, the angry thug just stood there, twitching, until Yoshimo appeared behind him, killing him with a powerful katana backstab. Finishing off Minsc's already injured opponent after that was merely a formality.

"Is drawing your weapon and trying to kill you a reasonable reaction just because someone accidentally bumped into you?" Leah wondered aloud as they were about to enter the establishment.

"No, but I'd urge you to be more careful, young lovely," Yoshimo said. _Young lovely?_ Leah's eyebrows rose at that comment. "These are the slums, a lawless place to say the least. People have been killed for much less than that."

"Try to remember that once we are inside, too," Jaheira added, being the first to step into the inn of dubious repute, Leah and Yoshimo next, followed by Minsc. "Stay here and try not to attract attention, avoid staring and just act sensibly. I will go speak with the barkeep and see about our rooms."

With that, Jaheira disappeared into the reasonably thick crowds, leaving Leah with nothing to do other than to try and survey the place, hopefully without attracting too much attention to herself. The first impression was that the Coronet was roughly the same size as the fabled Elfsong in Baldur's Gate, but far more rowdy and dirty. Elfsong had also provided more opportunities for privacy, nice secluded lounges lined around the large floor in the middle, open for dancing. Here, the tables were scattered around in chaotic patterns, groups of people crowding each one. Loud arguing and cursing was a constant background noise in contrast to the lovely bards in Elfsong, and at one of the tables several thugs were even freely throwing punches at each other. The bouncers ignored the fight at the table, too busy themselves with kicking into unconsciousness some hapless collapsed drunkard a dark corner.

As more and more time passed, Leah started to become impatient and worried, she could not see a glimpse of her friend through the thick crowd. While Jaheira could handle herself far better than Leah could, the patrons of this place seemed quite dangerous. "I'll just go see if I can spot Jaheira, I won't wander far," she told the two men, ignoring Yoshimo's worried frown before starting to carefully navigate through the crowded tables.

While the incident outside the Copper Coronet had been borne out of Leah's inattentiveness, this time the disaster that happened was not her fault. Someone deliberately stuck a foot in her path and she stumbled, losing her balance. Leah quickly felt a pair of arms seizing her and suddenly found herself pulled into the lap of some dirty looking bandit.

"What you got there, Amalas?" one of the man's equally vile looking friends asked.

"Don't know, but feels like a mighty fine catch to me," Amalas replied. She could feel his breath on the nape of her neck, the stench of cheap booze sickening her.

"Can't get a good look at her under that helmet," another thug joined in the merriment.

"Well, we better take it off then, right?" Amalas reached out to try and slip her helm off. At this point, Leah did something that was very likely unwise. She elbowed the smelly thug smack dab on the nose, then quickly jumping off his lap and trying to get away while he was still wheezing in pain. Unfortunately, his friends were quick to react, and she found herself held tightly by Amalas' two cronies while the man himself slowly got up from his chair, gingerly holding his bloody, smashed nose.

"You'll pay for this, harlot," he snarled, withdrawing a curved dagger. "I'll give you a few scars that no healer will be able to fix. Yes, when I will be done with you, no man will ever want to spare a second glance at you. Maybe then you'll be begging Amalas, but let me tell you, you proud whore, I will only laugh at you."

_This just is not my day,_ Leah thought, frantically looking around. She could see Yoshimo and Minsc trying to fight their way towards her, but as Amalas raised his dagger, she knew they would not make it in time. She closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was to come...

...only to open them again when she heard Amalas let out a surprised scream of intense pain, a heavy mace having shattered his elbow. As he slowly turned around to face his attacker, a heavily polished shield with an intricate family crest engraved on it smashed against Amalas already broken nose, knocking him on the floor severely crippled and unconscious. Leah quickly found herself falling backwards, the thugs immediately releasing her and rushing to carry their wounded leader away from the field of battle.

While Leah was still wondering what had happened, a pair of gentle, steady hands helped her back on her feet. She turned around to look into the deep brown eyes of a smiling young man, dressed in a shiny, well-maintained plate armor. "Fair lady," he said in what could only be described as a tremendously exaggerated knightly accent. "What brings you to this cesspool of corruption?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 **

It was still early the next morning, but Jaheira had already managed to take a refreshing bath, say her prayers to Silvanus and restore her spells, and was also nearly done with bringing her unruly hair into a more presentable state. Her once wavy golden brown locks had assumed an unhealthy, bleached look and her solution was to weave them into several small braids, which did a decent job at hiding the otherwise sorry state of her hair.

She was about to finish working on her last braid, when the doors behind her opened, her roommate entering. "Morning, Jah... hey, what have you done to your hair?" Jaheira was about to glare at her friend, when Leah quickly added. "I love it! Uh, I was just... surprised, that must have taken some effort and I didn't think you to be the type to care much."

"Under different circumstances I would not, but remember, we are having talks with two potential employers over the breakfast. It would be beneficial to appear somewhat decently attired. As much as we can manage wearing that salvaged junk," she snorted, then turning to look at Leah, the girl standing there in a short green tunic, hair damp from the visit to baths. "Your own hair could do with some work," Jaheira stated matter-of-factly.

"Can I deal with that later? Weaving those braids probably takes a while and even though I like them, I don't think they're quite my style."

"Fair enough. Also, I would avoid running around the inn in such a state," Jaheira shook her head disapprovingly. "We all remember what happened yesterday." Leah just grumbled in response. "Did you... do as I asked of you with your..."

"Yes, yes, I managed to heal them all, I can be on the cover of Adventurer's Monthly again," Leah replied, impatience seeping into the girl's voice. "Well, alright, I couldn't fix a few completely, but the scars are not very pronounced."

"Show me, maybe I can help."

"Err, I uh, really don't think that's needed Jaheira," Leah's cheeks turned slightly pink. "It's, umm, a slash across my thigh, and an incision between the ribs here," she pointed at her left side. "But just small markings, not worth making a fuss about."

"Very well then," Jaheira turned back to her braid, quickly applying last few touches. "I am almost ready and you should not dawdle around either, we will be expected downstairs soon."

"How did you manage to find some promising employers amongst that filth anyway," Leah wondered, starting to dress. "Also, I am not impressed that you sneaked back downstairs after convincing me that we both would be retiring early."

"I regret having to lie to you, but you needed rest, while I could not sleep," Jaheira shrugged. _To be honest, I was afraid what my dreams would be like._ "As for whether those employers are promising, well, you'll have to judge that for yourself."

"Well fortunately I'm still allowed to make decisions for the group as a whole, even if I can't make any decisions regarding myself!" Leah laughed. "I do hope you slept at least a little."

"I did," Jaheira said, rising from the chair. "Now let's go, no time to lose."

As the two of them walked down the corridor towards the stairs leading to the common room, Leah remarked. "So, what do you think of the newest addition to our ranks? My recruiting skills are admirable, aren't they?"

"I am not sure the squire will be worth having your head nearly lopped off," Jaheira found herself scowling. "We shall see. I would have preferred someone who dabbles in magic, but perhaps your shining knight will have his uses."

"My shining knight?" Leah laughed. "Oh, you are in a funny mood this morning."

The three men of the group were already downstairs, midway through their breakfast. Yoshimo could be seen explaining something to the young squire, the bounty hunter's grin predatory while the other man was frowning slightly at the Kozakuran's words. Minsc was busy devouring his meal while watching Boo make somersaults from a large saltshaker, occasionally clapping for the hamster. Yoshimo was the first to notice them approach, and together with the squire they rose and bowed to them, Minsc merely confining himself to a customary smile and greeting while remaining seated.

"Our ladies truly look enchanting this morning after a peaceful night's rest, don't they, my good squire?" Yoshimo said, playfully elbowing the young man. Before the squire could become truly embarrassed, Jaheira decided to chase Yoshimo away to fetch some food for them as she and Leah seated themselves at the table.

"Anomen, was it?" Leah asked. "I'm afraid that yesterday was a rather... hectic day for us. Please don't be offended if your name managed to escape my notice."

"It is Anomen Delryn, my lady," the young man said with a smile. "Your memory manages to be flawless despite all adversities. But allow me to ask you something. Earlier, I was passing by the bathing chambers and heard someone singing the most... haunting, alluring song I have ever heard. Did you happen to hear it as well? Truly, it was a voice worthy of a deva."

Jaheira could not stop herself from laughing openly at the sight of Leah's face turning bright crimson. "Did I... say something untoward, ladies? If so, I apologize most profusely!"

"Peace, Anomen," Jaheira told him with a smile. "It was Leah you heard singing in the baths. She is a cleric of Milil, and the song is her way of praying." She stared at the furiously blushing girl. "Even if I have told her many times to seek a more secluded place for praying." Leah's response was to cover her face with her palms.

"Ah... please my Lady Leah, it was not my intent to make you uncomfortable. I have only the greatest respect and admiration for the exploits of the Sorlyn."

"Thank you Anomen," Leah finally managed to gather herself. "I have been told that my prayer can often cause a rather... strong reaction in those listening. I will try to avoid exposing you to it in the future."

Even if everything in Anomen's posture suggested that he wished for quite the opposite, he didn't have the opportunity to voice it, as at that moment Yoshimo returned with a tray of dishes, carrying some simple breakfast for Jaheira and Leah. They had just managed to dig into their oatmeal and hard-boiled eggs, when a young red haired woman in a blue robe appeared on the stairs, climbing down and then approaching them in a determined step.

"That would be the employer number one," Yoshimo commented on the redhead's approach.

"Will you listen to my offer now?" the young woman pleaded in an exasperated voice. "I cannot believe we have wasted a day already!"

"We were in no condition to do anything for you before we had rested, I explained that to you once already," Jaheira said, feeling her brow furrowing in annoyance. "Now, I suggest that you tell your story again, so that our esteemed leader," she nodded at Leah, "can make her decision whether we can help you or not."

"Let me fetch you a seat, young lovely," Yoshimo reacted quickly, grabbing a chair from the next table and offering it to the redhead.

"I don't have time to sit around, time is of essence!" the woman exclaimed impatiently. From the way she was unconsciously wringing her hands, it was clear that she was under a lot of stress, but her manner somehow did not yield her much sympathy with Jaheira at least.

"Well, I am intent on finishing my breakfast, so you might as well sit because this will take a while," Leah said patiently. The other woman let out a deep sigh and sat down, then glaring at Yoshimo who _accidentally_ hadn't removed his hand from the chair in time. "Now, tell me what it is you want help with."

The young woman took a deep breath before starting with her tale. "My father is the lord of a small community outside Athkatla. Four days ago, our keep suddenly found itself under heavy attack, and my father ordered me to flee the blockade and seek what help I could find for he feared they would not be able to defend the keep on their own. By the time I left, already many of our well trained guards were dead."

"There is no one else who can help you?" Leah asked. "Not that I am refusing you outright, but we are not accustomed to battle invading armies."

"Surely the Order of the Radiant Heart would..." Anomen started, but was immediately interrupted by the impatient redhead.

"By the time your Order decides to act, my father will be dead and my family keep torn down to the last stone," she spat, earning an icy look from the squire.

"More questions, Lady... what is your name, if I may ask?" Leah wondered.

"Nalia. Nalia d'Arnise," the other woman replied.

"Well, Nalia, before we agree to anything, I would need to know more about the forces we'll be facing. What will we be up against?"

"I... I don't know much," Nalia spoke ruefully. "I think I escaped before we had truly understood the extent of the danger or the nature of our attackers. Hired mercenaries, I guess?"

Jaheira felt the brief look Leah shared with her, nodding almost imperceptibly. Something was amiss here. The girl's father would not have sent his daughter away unless he knew precisely what they were facing and what the dangers were. "Any information regarding the numbers of the attacking force would be helpful. I suppose we could handle it if there were only a few dozens of those orcs," Leah said.

"Did I say they were orcs?" Nalia looked surprised. "I'm sure I didn't, for they weren't orcs."

"But you just said that you didn't know who the attackers were, so they could have been orcs," Leah pointed out. Jaheira felt her lips tugging into a smile, noticing that Yoshimo was also giving Leah a look of appreciation.

"I... err, yes, I guess they might have been orcs," Nalia stammered, thrown off-balance.

"Look girl," Jaheira decided to cut in. "I strongly advise you to be honest with us. It will pay off in the long run, trust me."

Nalia covered her face with trembling hands, her shoulders sagging. "They'll refuse, they will turn me away… they all have," she whispered. "My family keep… has been invaded by trolls," finally she admitted, struggling not to break down in tears.

Jaheira shared another look with Leah. They both knew that trolls were dangerous opponents, but on the other hand, eliminating them would also likely be worth a handsome payment and gold was of issue. Leah had apparently reached a similar conclusion. "Save your tears, Lady Nalia," she said. "For five thousand gold we will rid your family's estate from the troll filth."

Nalia removed her hands from her face, looking at Leah. "Three thousand. Five if you manage to save my father."

"Four, six if we manage to save your father. Now, do we have a deal or not?"

"Fine," Nalia snapped. "An exorbitant amount, and what you do is nothing but extortion, however, I am out of options," she added with her best 'filthy money-grubbing mercenaries of dubious morals' stare directed at their whole group. Jaheira could see Leah chewing on her lip, pondering a biting retort, but finally patience prevailed.

"I understand that time is of issue, but we will need most of this day to prepare ourselves for the trip, we lack some of the basic travelling supplies like tents and rations," Leah explained. "We should be ready to move out in the afternoon."

"I suppose that is acceptable," Nalia said, sounding a little resigned. "Do you wish me to travel with you? It would save having to explain directions, also, I have some skill with magic and lockpicking." Yoshimo's eyebrows rose slightly at those words.

"We have been looking for a mage," Leah admitted. "Your skills would surely come in handy to put those trolls down for good. Tell me, have you the permission of those wizards to cast spells while in the city?"

"You must mean the magic license," the redheaded mage said. "I'm afraid no, it costs a fortune to procure and I would have never been able to ask my father for such amount of gold… not for this purpose anyway... and he is probably the only person aside from my tutor who even knows I am knowledgeable in the Art."

"Well, I just thought I'd ask," Leah shrugged. "Tell you what, once we're done here, we will be taking a trip over to the Promenade... Adventurer's Mart, that was the place, right Jaheira?" having received the nod, Leah continued. "Shopping shouldn't take us too long and after we are done with it, we can start marching towards your family lands. How long is the journey?"

"On feet, it shouldn't be more than a day," Nalia replied. "I think now that everything is settled, I will return upstairs and gather my things." With that she rose and all but ran back upstairs, no doubt relieved to have secured the help, despite whatever her objections to the price of such aid might be.

"You didn't handle that too badly," Jaheira admitted, giving Leah a pat on the shoulder. "And I doubt I would have been as patient with that brat."

"The lessons in restraint are purely for your benefit, my dear friend," the priestess grinned at her, incorrigible as ever.

"So she fancies herself to have some skill in thievery, does she?" Yoshimo grinned. "This should be interesting to see."

"Bah! I doubt the fool girl even asked the Order for help," Anomen was fuming. "I refuse to believe my fellow knights and squires would refuse an opportunity to administer justice to creatures as wicked as trolls."

"Minsc is just happy to have plenty of troll buttocks being lined up for kicking," the big ranger sounded delighted at the prospect of bloody battle. "Also, Boo says that you can buy a lot of nuts for six thousand gold. Oh... err, Boo says that was not meant for you all to hear."

While Leah was busy coughing up the bits of oatmeal she had swallowed while laughing, suddenly a garishly dressed individual emerged from the gathering of people at the bar and approached them, a haughty looking noble, carrying himself with confidence and disdain for his current surroundings. The black haired middle-aged man headed straight for their table and without an invitation took the chair vacated by Nalia.

"I have an offer, if you are willing to listen," he started, in a voice that somehow felt persuasive and used to commanding. "My name is Lord Jierdan Firkraag, and I have need for ones such as you. My lands near the Windspear Hills have fallen under attack of vile ogres and orcs, and I require the aid of capable adventurers to clear them out."

"Mr. F.," Leah observed after a moment's pause. "You should keep your thugs on a shorter leash, my Lord. If they are so full of energy to pick fights with those that accidentally bump into them, perhaps you should have unleashed them on those ogres." For a moment, Jaheira was afraid her mouth was left hanging open from the surprise of hearing Leah speak so bluntly with the noble who clearly was of the type to not take kindly to dissent. But her respect for the younger woman had risen by a massive leap. It was good for Leah to be more forceful and standing up for herself.

"I noticed their bloody corpses outside," Lord Firkraag said, smiling thinly. "Regrettable, and I must apologize if they caused any trouble. But back to my offer… I am willing to pay ten thousand gold for successful completion of this task."

"Ten thousand?" Leah sounded incredulous. "You could have hired a small army with such a sum. Why choose us?"

"Because I don't want an army, I want you specifically," Firkraag answered.

"How and what do you know of me?" Leah pressed, looking uncomfortable. Clearly, while Yoshimo and Anomen knew nothing of her past exploits, this Firkraag seemed to have her at a disadvantage.

"Perhaps many here would choose to forget our recent troubles with Baldur's Gate, but not me. Your adventures along the Sword Coast are well known to me," Firkraag explained. "I know what you're capable of, and the gold I'm offering is the price I deem adequate for your skill."

"Is there a timetable for this task?" Leah asked. "Also, we will need directions."

"There is no specific deadline, but the sooner the better. This map here has all the information you'll need to arrive at my lands safely," he threw a piece of parchment on the table, before rising from his chair. "I hope to hear from you soon."

As the haughty nobleman retreated, the group exchanged glances between them. "Ten thousand gold is a great deal for simple monster slaying," Leah finally noted, finishing off the last remnants of her breakfast.

"I do not know what to make of this offer, and that worries me," Jaheira expressed her concerns. "It would be good to get out of the city, but..."

"Such occurrences are not uncommon in the more unruly regions of Amn," Anomen explained. "This Firkraag likely possesses coffers full of gold. If that is the only thing you're interested in, then I am sure a noble like him will deliver. For now, though, I find myself more curious about your role in the events mentioned by Lord Firkraag." Yoshimo could be seen nodding in assent to that.

"The road to Lady Nalia's keep should present us with ample opportunities to chat, Anomen," Leah answered. "I will try to satisfy your curiosity as we travel."

"Trolls or ogres or orcs, Minsc is having trouble deciding which buttocks of evil would be more deserving to be kicked," the bald ranger added. "But Boo liked the little girl much better than the shifty noble, just look, his whiskers are still twitching! We should help her first!"

"Minsc... Boo's whiskers are _always_ twitching... it is natural for hamsters," Jaheira sighed.

"No sir! This is no simple twitching, it is a Twitch of Distrust, followed by Scratching of Duplicity!"

"Your point is well taken, Minsc," Leah smiled, patting the ranger's hand. "We will help Nalia first, as agreed. Also, looks like we are all done here, so let's get our things and be on our way."

"Aye, my lady, glory and adventure await us," Anomen said, beaming a knightly smile at Leah. _Hmm, there might be an interest developing. I will have to watch this,_ Jaheira thought to herself.

"Go ahead Leah, I will catch up with you after I have paid for our rooms," Jaheira ushered the girl away from the table before walking over to the fat barkeep, idly and pointlessly polishing the horribly stained surface of the counter.

"Greetings, Bernard," she said quietly. The man answered with a curt nod. She withdrew her money pouch and counted several coins leaving them on the counter, and as the man reached to take them, Jaheira quickly slipped a piece of parchment into his hand. "Account of my... adventures over the past four months," she whispered. "I am sure someone will find them interesting. Also, tell our friends that I will be gone from the city for a few days, in case anyone tries to make contact."

Bernard nimbly pocketed the piece of paper. "Will do, Jaheira," he said. "We thought we had lost you."

"No, you did not lose me," she answered, turning around, feeling tears starting to well in her eyes. "But you did lose someone."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 **

Having finished admiring herself in the mirror, Leah finally left one of the Promenade's barbershops and slowly started climbing down the stone steps to the lower levels where the Adventurer's Mart expanded amongst the many smaller shops. She felt strange, having done away with her once beautiful long hair, but it had been ruined beyond repair, and now she had to settle for a much shorter, almost tomboyish haircut, accompanied with a tiny, stubborn looking ponytail on her back. It made her look a lot more businesslike, at least, and less of a naive daydreamer that Jaheira sometimes suggested she was.

Her companions were likely still busy purchasing travelling supplies, a task that Jaheira was always happy to take on and Leah was glad for it, not feeling terribly rushed to rejoin her friends. Instead, her feet led her all the way to the centre of the Promenade, where the large yellow circus tent loomed, surrounded by cages of trained animals, carts of supplies and several tents housing the staff and the performers. Leah rather enjoyed the bustle of the circus, as sometimes it presented her with an opportunity to pick off a new song from some performing bard, like during their visit to the faire in Nashkel. Curious, she traversed the path between supply carts, arriving at the entrance to the largest of the tents, before finding her further advance barred by a worried looking guard.

"I'm sorry miss, but the circus has been closed off until further notice," the guard, young man in his early twenties, explained, casting a concerned glance at the entrance behind him. "No one goes in or out until we've an idea of what's going on in there. Now, off you go."

"Why, what's wrong?" Leah inquired, trying to appear as friendly as possible.

"We don't rightly know," the guard shrugged, looking uncomfortable. "The few folks who got out spoke of some magical act going wrong or something. We've called in those wizards to sort this out..." the man seemed deeply unhappy at the mere mention of the Cowled Ones. "But they're late. Ah, surely it's ill luck to even discuss this!"

Leah stepped aside, pondering for a moment, before speaking up again. "I have been able to help out with things like these in the past," she then told the guard who stared at her sceptically. "I am a healer of no small skill, I assure you."

"I really shouldn't allow you to do that, it could be very dangerous," the guard did not relent.

"Well, look at it this way, if I manage to solve this for you, you won't have to stand here so close to all that evil magic and worry about it bringing you bad luck, right?" Leah tried.

"Hmm, now that is true..." the guard nodded after a moment's thought. "Just don't come complaining to me if you get yourself killed or worse!"

"I won't, promise," Leah grinned. "Oh, I wonder, would there be a reward for doing this?"

"I don't have the authority or the funds to issue rewards to crazy adventurers who insist on getting themselves killed," the young man said. Then a thought seemed to occur to him. "But I could put in a word with Inspector Brega, should you prove fortunate. I'm sure he can spare some coin."

"Right, thanks," as the guard stepped aside to allow her access into the tent, Leah briefly wondered if perhaps she should have brought the rest of her group with her. _But then again, how dangerous could some circus magician be? Besides, I am only going to scout around for a bit. Should things prove too dangerous, I'll just simply retreat and then return with my trusty companions._

As she closed the curtain of the entrance behind her and turned to look at the view facing her, she was quite stunned to see an elaborate marble bridge leading across to a massive dome with a cupola shaped roof, far larger in its size than the tent she had just entered. _Ah, wonderful, seems like we're actually dealing with a powerful illusionist,_ she realized. _I better call in the others for this._ With that, Leah turned around, and much to her chagrin realized that the exit had been magically sealed off, she could only see smooth wall surrounding her as far as the view stretched. _Ah... typical, I really should have seen that one coming. _

_Well… guess I'll just have to sort this out myself then,_ she decided, starting towards the bridge in a determined step, but then halting. _Of course... I'm nearly out of spells, because Jaheira forced me to mend my scars, since we weren't going to face any combat today! _She slapped her forehead in exasperation. _Okay, it's official, I'm a hapless fool of a girl._ Leah sighed inwardly, before carefully moving on across the bridge.

* * *

"Ow, ow, ow... these things sure hurt a lot for illusions," Leah complained a while later, sitting down on a fluffy Calishite carpet, that was probably also just an illusion, but at least unlike all the other illusions it wasn't actively trying to kill her.

"Heh, n-no the werewolves are the illusions," a young elven girl was crouching over her, healing a bloody gash on Leah's thigh, her own healing spells exhausted long ago. "Those shadow creatures are quite real, you can be sure of that."

"Hopefully there aren't many of them left," Leah said, getting up slowly. "If these things don't kill me, Jaheira probably will, once she learns of my stupidity," she muttered under her breath.

Navigating this maze of illusions had been a real challenge thus far. Leah had managed to find and free several of the circus staff, but only one of them had been of some usefulness to her, the girl Aerie accompanying her right now. The elf had some skill in both magical and clerical arts, a rare combination, but one that Leah was quite glad to have with her. Many of their opponents in this maze were mere illusions, and so the ability to dispel them became priceless, Leah holding them off from the petite elf and absorbing their very real feeling blows until Aerie's magic took effect.

The girl had also been able to shed some light on the events that were the cause of the whole debacle. Apparently, one of the performers, a gnome named Kalah, had grown bitter over the years due to the real or perceived mistreatment by his fellow co-workers and one day, triggered by yet another insult, this bitterness had spilled over and taken form in a bloody revenge against his tormentors. This Kalah had also taken as prisoner Aerie's uncle, who was also the owner of this circus, hence the girl's insistence to accompany her on this perilous task.

"Well, let's get a move on," Leah urged, leading the elf onwards, up another case of steps. "This Kalah can't be far off now."

"I h-hope not, I'm running out of spells," Aerie said, sounding a little less assured of their success than before.

Fortunately, Leah for once was proven right. Kalah, together with some of his conjured creatures awaited them, but now that they already knew most of them to be illusions, Aerie's dispelling magic quickly evened the field of battle. Leah, completely drained of all spells, even those granted by her dark heritage, was forced to do battle in the melee, finally succeeding in awkwardly bashing in Kalah's skull with her club. As the misguided gnome fell, everything around them, including the shadow creatures still beating on her, twisted, shimmered and then disappeared. For a moment, Leah felt like being caught in a swirling whirlpool that eventually threw her down on the sawdust covered floor of the real circus tent.

Around and above her, there was now a terrible ruckus, the circus staff and some of the visitors rushing to get out of the tent while they still could, unaware that the danger had been dealt for good. Some of them nearly trampled Leah in their frantic rushing to escape, the girl unable to stand, sharp pain jolting her somewhere in the left knee and hip whenever she tried to rise. For the lack of better ideas, she simply decided to lie there and hope that someone would eventually notice her. As she turned her head to the left, she could see the prone body of the dead illusionist lying next to her. Kalah looked so tiny, helpless and peaceful in his death. Without much thought, Leah crawled a little closer and started to rummage through his belongings, but there was not much to salvage, a few gold coins and a ring that appeared magically enchanted.

The excited and relieved shouting of the crowd slowly died down, and through it she could hear Aerie's voice, talking animatedly with a man whose high pitched squeak of a voice was indicative of a gnome. Leah briefly pondered calling for aid, getting slightly bored of simply lying around, when she suddenly heard another familiar voice. "The guard told me that someone matching her description had entered," that was Yoshimo, she could not mistake his accent for anything.

"Verily, it seems as if a great battle has been fought h-... Lady Leah!" Anomen was the first to notice her lying on the ground.

"I'm fine, just resting a bit," Leah called out to them. "Take your time. Everyone else seems to."

"She's alright. Good, that means I can strangle her for being foolishly irresponsible," that could be no one else but Jaheira.

"Somehow I knew you were going to say that," Leah chuckled weakly. The leg was starting to hurt quite a lot by know. "Could you heal me before all that strangling, though?"

"Allow me, my Lady," Anomen was quick to drop on his knees beside her. One furious chant later, she could feel the pleasant sensation of soothing chill spreading through her leg, quickly working to mend her wounds. Anomen held out his hand, helping her rise from the floor. "And if I just may add, your new haircut looks especially lovely, my Lady," he added, holding on to her hands for a lingering moment.

"Thank you, Anomen," she smiled back. "I trust you had a productive session of shopping?"

"Minsc has a new helmet with less dents than the old one!" the big ranger cheerfully announced. "Also, Boo has a new hamster wheel, and it is less squeaky too! But Minsc is sad that little Leah did not leave a single evil clown butt to be gloriously walloped."

"Don't worry, Minsc, tomorrow we'll be busy kicking trolls left and right," Leah grinned, turning to leave the tent, but finding someone insistently tugging on her sleeve. She turned around to stare into Aerie's nervously smiling face.

"Leah, could I ask you something?" she said. "You're an adventurer, right?"

"Yes... against my better judgment, it seems."

"I have been thinking and talking things over with my uncle Quayle," she pointed at the busy looking gnome, ordering around some of the performers. "He thinks it might be time for me to leave the circus behind and go see a little of the world outside it, and I... I guess the thought of it sounds appealing? So I was wondering... if you would happen to have a place in your group for a magic user like me... I would be glad to travel with you."

"Mmm, license to cast magic in the city?" Leah inquired. Aerie shook her head sadly. "Right, just give me a moment to discuss it with the others then," Aerie nodded to that, retreating back to her uncle and resuming speaking with him.

Leah quickly called Jaheira aside, breaking into a hushed conversation with the druidess. "The girl," she nodded towards the blonde elf, "wants to come with us. See the world, have a grand adventure, you know, that sort of thing." Jaheira looked sceptical. "Yes, I know, she's probably very naive and inexperienced, but she can do both arcane and divine magic."

"We hardly need more healers," Jaheira mused, still looking unconvinced. "But more magic would be useful against the trolls and I am reluctant to rely on this Nalia alone."

"Let's give her a try then, see how she performs and decide after that," Leah said, turning around and walking towards the elf. "Aerie, gather your belongings, make sure you have everything for several days outside the city," she told the girl who looked overexcited at the news.

"Just give me a few minutes!" Aerie exclaimed, dashing out of the tent before turning around. "I won't disappoint you, I promise!" she added.

"I trust you'll take care of my girl," the gnome stared up at her expectantly.

"As much as I can, though I expect everyone in my group to pull their own weight," Leah replied with a shrug. _Also, thanks for rescuing me and clearing this mess in my circus! Would you like a reward? _She added mentally.

"That is all I ask," the gnome nodded, readjusting his monocle and turning the attention back to his scattered troupe. "She's really quite bright, you know. I have no idea how I'll be able to run things here with her gone, I have grown to rely on her so much."

Leah listened for a while as Aerie's uncle continued to sing praises for the girl, before finally politely excusing her and stepping outside the large tent, where the rest of her companions waited on her. _If Aerie is so incredibly amazing, I wonder how come he's sending her away so easily,_ Leah thought. _Uncle or no, he has a business to run and it's not typical for his kind to be charitable. Then again, maybe he does care for the girl and wants what's best for her. But why would he think that her future is in adventuring, though? It can be extremely dangerous, as Nalia's task will undoubtedly prove._

Looking around, Leah noticed that the guard outside the tent had already left, no doubt very relieved about the resolution of this incident. _I wonder what are the chances he'll actually mention my involvement to that Brega person,_ Leah wondered. _Probably very slim, more likely he'll just try to steal the glory for himself and earn a promotion._

"Leah, I used some of our gold to purchase a few things aside the travel supplies we needed," Jaheira approached her. "Some of the armor we recovered in that dungeon was in poor shape, nearly disintegrating. Minsc needed a new helmet and chainmail and I bought some simple gauntlets for myself."

"Makes sense, no need to report to me for every coin spent, you know that," Leah said idly.

"Well, I also bought you this," the druidess said, handing Leah a nicely curved sword with a malachite encrusted pommel. "You are quite useless with that club, you can't hit or block anything. We need you to fight with something you are familiar with, if you are to be of any use."

"Ouch, that was a very frank appraisal!" Leah laughed, taking the sword and making a few experimental swings. "A falchion? Has a nice balance to it, I like."

"An interesting choice of weapon, my Lady," Anomen wondered. "Does Milil prefer his clerics to use bladed weapons?"

"I doubt it's the foremost in his mind when measuring the devotion of his followers," Leah smiled at her fellow healer. "I just wish people would use those blunt weapons less in general. I've healed quite a few injuries caused by flail swings, and they were... not pretty," she shuddered at the memory of some of those wounds, Minsc's shoulder smashed so badly that he could not lift a sword for a ten-day even with intensive healing, or bones in Khalid's elbow shattered so thoroughly that he had nearly lost his right hand.

Anomen looked as if he wanted to add something, but at that very moment Leah noticed Aerie emerging from one of the tents, backpack slung over her shoulder and a plain wooden staff in her hands, approaching them in a determined step. "I think we are ready to leave," Leah called out to alert everyone. "Grab your belongings, everyone! Next stop is d'Arnise Keep!"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

It was a lovely Flamerule afternoon, sun high in the sky, but not yet blazing in the full heat of summer, instead warming their shoulders pleasantly as the group walked in a brisk pace down the road leading away from the gates of Athkatla. The farmlands surrounding the great city stretched as far as the eye could see and it was only after several hours of hard walking that more forested areas started to come into their view, Nalia referring to these lands as fox hunting grounds of the bored nobility who lacked courage to test themselves against something more challenging.

Getting through the city gates had been somewhat daunting experience, their passage delayed by crowds that had formed due to the insistence of the guards, thoroughly searching everyone entering the city, or at least continuing the search until the victim produced a suitable bribe. One good thing had come out of this delay, however, when Minsc and Boo introduced the rest of the group to a man from the nearby city of Trademeet who had come to Athkatla seeking help at the behest of the mayor of his city. It appeared as this Trademeet was under heavy attack from the wildlife inhabiting the forests next to the city, and many inclined to believe that local druids were at fault, inciting the animals into attacking, even if no one could guess their motivation for doing so. Jaheira had been quite incensed about this implication and looked determined to clear the sullied name of everything druidic, so Leah expected that her friend would insist on a trip to Trademeet very soon. Which suited her fine, since the man had mentioned that the mayor was a very wealthy man and willing to pay a large reward for this task.

So far things had been going as smoothly as Leah could have hoped, but still, success was not guaranteed in any of the missions they had chosen to undertake, and it must have been the heavy crease in her brow from all the thinking that had attracted Jaheira's attention as the druidess silently moved next to Leah to walk in step with her. "Having thoughts, oh omnipresent authority figure?" she asked, Leah smiling at what she had once thought for an extremely irritating and purposefully insulting way of address.

"Just mentally adding up the gold from the rewards of our no doubt glorious missions to be," Leah replied, then taking a mouthful of water from the flask at her hip. "Six from Nalia, ten from Firkraag, and I bet we can shake just as much from the coffers of the mayor of Trademeet. Theoretically, that would put us above what the Shadow Thieves want."

"You know it is not as simple as that," the druidess said. "We have very little in the way of enchanted weapons and armour. Look at the rags I am wearing," Jaheira pointed at her chainmail, rusted in places and having a few holes, making it worryingly vulnerable in spots, the shield on the half-elf's back also having plenty of dents and looking as if one particularly heavy blow from an ogre would shatter it easily. "We will not last long against this Irenicus, wearing this junk."

"And to buy the kind of weapons and armor we left Baldur's Gate in…" Leah sighed.

"Will cost four, if not five times more than what the Shadow Thieves are asking," Jaheira finished for her, not sounding particularly happy.

"Your reality checks never fail to depress me, you know."

"It's what I am here for," Jaheira replied, allowing herself a small hint of smile. She then looked away, across the fields, her eyes drawn to the thin dark line of the forests on the horizon. "It has been some time since I have been this far south. I recall seeing Gorion here some years ago," she stopped talking and laughed, a strange, strained chortle. "He was so out of place away from his books, but..." she looked at Leah again, misreading her thoughtful expression for one of sadness. "It seems I cannot help but speak of the dead lately. I did not wish to cause you any distress."

"What? You did nothing of the sort, " Leah shook her head vehemently. "I no longer remember Gorion with sadness, despite... despite his end. There are other… more recent losses, that plague my mind."

Jaheira nodded, her green eyes shining as she spoke her next words. "Gorion would not have wished his memory to cause pain, and I... I think the same is true for Khalid."

"I'm sure it is. We won't let the dead take us living ones with them, will we?" Leah offered her friend a sombre smile. "What was it that Gorion told me, when he spoke of those close to him he had lost... 'Shoulder not such a weight, but if you must, place it in a sturdy pack and not loose in your arms. So it would be behind you, but still with you, and would not obscure your vision.'"

Jaheira smiled in return. "That does sound like something Gorion would say. But enough of this maudlin for now," she said, clearly unwilling to indulge in the memories any longer. "Still... it is good having someone to talk with. Someone who will understand," she added quietly.

Leah reached out and briefly squeezed her friend's hand. "Anytime, Jaheira," she said. Then she looked at the rest of the group, walking ahead of them, Minsc at the front, followed by Nalia and Anomen, then Aerie and Yoshimo, the Kara-Turan relentlessly trying to impress the young elf with his fanciful tales. Leah suddenly felt the need to distract herself from the gloomy mood the memories had put her in, and she had also promised to speak to Anomen during their travels. "You wouldn't mind if I caught up with the others?" she asked, Jaheira simply shaking her head in answer.

With that Leah increased her pace, swiftly catching up with those in front. "Beautiful day, is it not?" she offered conversationally, coming into step with Nalia and Anomen.

"Aye, 'tis most suited for a walk such as this," the squire replied, looking very pleased for her sudden choice to accompany them. Nalia had been keeping quiet until now, and she continued to ignore Leah's appearance, her thoughts obviously resting with the fate of her father and the holdings of her family.

"You asked me a question earlier, and I promised you am answer," Leah started, looking at Anomen, knowing that there was no sense in delaying this talk. "If you are still interested, I could tell you a little of my travels across the Sword Coast."

"I would be delighted to hear about your adventures, my lady," Anomen said. "Perhaps afterwards, I could tell you of some of my own exploits."

"That sounds acceptable," Leah nodded. "You did hear Firkraag mentioning the near state of war between Amn and Baldur's Gate last year, did you not? A situation defused by the demise of the leaders of the Iron Throne, an organization of wealthy Sembian merchants of ill repute."

"Yes, I do remember those tales, my lady, conflicting as they were. Some of the most outrageous exaggerations placed the entire success in the hands of some shady adventurous troupe," Anomen's voice was full of purest honesty and innocence even as he uttered the words that made Leah wince inwardly. Next to them, she saw Nalia shaking her head, implying that she had been listening intently the whole time.

"Well... that part is actually true," Leah said quietly. Anomen gave her a dubious stare. "Of course, I have no idea how that story has grown with telling by the time it reached your ears. But yes, it took a great effort and heroic deeds by all of my comrades for us to defeat the leaders of the Iron Throne." As she spoke, Minsc suddenly withdrew the Sword of Chaos from his back, startling them all as he brandished it in the air proudly. "That sword..." she paused, swallowing hard. "That sword belonged to Sarevok Anchev, one of the Iron Throne leaders."

"I feel I should apologize, my lady, it seems your achievements are admirable indeed and I hope to learn more about your adventures in time," Anomen gallantly recovered from his earlier slip-up. "I do have a question, however, if I may," having received a nod from her, Anomen continued, "I know for a fact that in the coming months after the war with Baldur's Gate was averted, Amn sent their representatives to strengthen the truce, renew trade agreements and amongst all, also express gratitude to those who had been so instrumental in preserving the peace. This is known to me because a member of the Order of the Radiant Heart was a part of this delegation, however... this group of adventurers was nowhere to be found and dark tales surrounded their leave of Baldur's Gate, speaking of mysterious disappearance..."

Leah felt the colour slowly draining from her cheeks as the memory forced itself upon her. "It must have been roughly four months ago." Anomen nodded. "We... we had just left Baldur's Gate and were about to set up our camp a little south of Ulgoth's Beard. Suddenly, out of nowhere came an attack and we were captured, drugged and brought to Athkatla, locked in a dungeon under the Promenade, where we have been imprisoned for four long months, until our escape yesterday."

Anomen offered her a sympathy filled look and she continued, feeling very week in her knees. "Two of my companions perished in that accursed place," she could see Minsc's shoulders slumping at her words. "And the third was captured by the Cowled Wizards, because she sought to protect herself and all of us from the wizard that had kept us as his prisoners. Imoen was... like a sister to me. And I will not rest until I have freed her from their grasp."

"Rest assured, my lady, I will do all in my powers to aid you in this journey. A great injustice has been done to you and your friends, and I do not believe that the knights of the Order could find a more deserving task for me to undertake than this," Anomen said earnestly. _He may sound very pompous, but his heart seems to be kind and pure,_ Leah thought at that.

"Anomen is right, it is horrible, and I have no love for those oppressive wizards," Nalia spoke with determination, the persecutions against magic users undoubtedly a sensitive topic with her. "After we have saved my keep and rescued my father, I would be delighted to lend my hand to your aid, if you would have me."

"Thank you, Nalia," Leah said, looking at the young mage. "Earlier, you made objections about the size of the reward we were requesting." Nalia looked a little uneasy at these words. "Fair your concerns might be, know that I do not hoard this gold for myself. I have been made an offer by a... group of powerful individuals, who have promised to lead me to Imoen for the price of twenty thousand gold."

Nalia let out a sharp whistle, not very becoming to a noblewoman. "In that case I am not surprised, Leah," she said. "It is a worthy goal. I will see if I can spare anything beyond that which was already promised, but be aware that the attackers might be plundering my family's wealth as we speak."

"Group of powerful individuals?" Anomen asked. "Could you be more specific, my lady? I am sure that the Order would be willing to help as well, once they have heard of your predicament."

"If you believe so, I suppose there is no harm in asking," Leah said. "As for my mysterious benefactors, I am quite sure they are involved with the Shadow Thieves."

Anomen's face contorted in distaste at the mention of that name. "Shadow Thieves are not the savoury type of individuals that you should be associating with, my lady," he said, unaware of the dangerous glint in Leah's eyes, a sure sign of her annoyance with his patronizing words. "Not when there is an opportunity to enlist the aid of the greatest force for righteousness in the whole of Faerun."

"You'll have to forgive my heinous negligence, Anomen," Leah said, all too sweetly. "But until our meeting last night, I was not aware your Order even existed. Now that you have made me aware of this option, sure, let us explore it once we return to Athkatla. But I will ask you not to judge my actions when all I want is to have the one person closest to me rescued from the clutches of those awful wizards," towards the end of her speech, Leah had to exert a certain amount of self control to avoid tears spilling over her cheeks, thoughts and worries about Imoen making it hard for her to speak.

Anomen kept silent for a while before he spoke again. "Your words are wise, my lady, and I am thankful for them. If anything would happen to the one closest to my heart, I can only hope to retain as sound judgment as you have displayed ever since our meeting."

While Leah felt a little curious, it felt far too intrusive to ask whether he had meant someone particular being close to his heart. _A gallant, good-looking knight in shiny armor probably has more than a few high society ladies lusting after him,_ she mused. "Perhaps you could tell me more of your adventures, Anomen?" she asked some time later, deciding that a change of topic was in order.

"There is precious little to tell yet, although my few adventures have been glorious, indeed," Anomen started. "The path to knighthood is a long one, however, hence the need for my travels."

"Is joining a ragtag group of adventurers a commonly accepted way for a would-be knight to prove himself?" Leah wondered. "Mistake me not, I am glad to have you with us, but I was rather surprised to find someone like yourself in the Copper Coronet."

A shadow seemed to briefly pass across Anomen's handsome face. "Perhaps not a common practice, but it is tolerated, if not encouraged. Not all senior knights and paladins can be expected to tutor a squire, and there are many seeking admittance into the Order."

_I swear there must be more to this than he's telling._ "Oh, I see," she just said instead. "I apologize for interrupting, do go on."

As Anomen embarked on a long and quite fanciful tale about his nearly single-handed conquest of the orc tribes in Ommlur Hills, Leah found herself wondering if the otherwise pleasant warrior-priest's overconfidence and hubris would not prove too difficult to handle. The dream of becoming a full-fledged member of the Order seemed to be more important to him than anything else, and he was harshly defensive of anything that might cast even the tiniest doubt of his own worthiness or something that questioned the reputation of his beloved and idealized Order. It seemed that even making innocent quips about anything Order related was strongly frowned upon, Anomen's poorly developed sense of humour disappearing completely as soon as the Radiant Heart became involved. _Ah well... I can only hope that with time in our company he'll learn to relax a little,_ Leah thought, sighing inwardly.

They kept talking as the journey continued, the farmlands growing scarcer now and grassy plains with the occasional patch of trees spreading around them. The edge of the forest was growing in the distance, now not more than several hours of walk away, but the sunset was not far off either. Having spoken some more to Anomen, with Nalia's occasional interjections, Leah was about to slow her pace and rejoin Jaheira at the tail end of the group, when suddenly something occurred to her.

"Nalia, you must be well informed on Amnish nobility, all sorts of gossip and such included?" she turned to the young mage.

"Not that well... I try to avoid contact with those of my station, limiting it only to that which is absolutely necessary. I much prefer spending my time 'slumming' as Auntie calls it, trying to help those less fortunate," Nalia replied. "But I suppose I do know a little, why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you have heard anything about Lord Jierdan Firkraag," Leah said.

Nalia pondered her answer for a long while, thoughtfully rubbing her chin. "I think he's one of those landowners from south-eastern Amn, so he doesn't really show himself in Athkatla often. I don't think anyone knows him very well. He is somewhat of a newcomer to the scene. Doesn't have the best reputation, but then again amongst the nobility, who does?"

Still walking, Leah took the backpack off her shoulders and started to rummage through it until she had found Firkraag's map. She handed it to Anomen, urging him to pass it further on to Nalia. "He mentioned marking his lands on that map, does that look about right?"

Nalia kept studying the map as she walked, her pace gradually slowing until Aerie bumped into her from the behind, the elf quickly apologizing and moving aside. "I guess it could be right, though I'm certain that the exact marking is wrong, those should be the Windspear lands," the redhead explained, the look on her face a little uncertain. "I mean... at least they used to be Windspear lands still quite recently. They owned a granite quarry at the foothills and my father dealt with the Windspear family when we needed materials to renovate parts of the inner keep fortifications."

"Perhaps Firkraag simply put the mark down in a slightly wrong spot," Leah offered. "Can't expect a noble to be a grand cartographer, I suppose!"

"Yes, I think you're right," Nalia agreed. "If Lord Firkraag has any lands to his name, they should be in the vicinity of the Windspear holdings. I'm sure you'll be able to track them down easily enough."

Leah just nodded, thanking the mage as she placed the map back into her sack again, throwing the heavy bag back on her shoulders. Somehow Nalia's words hadn't exactly reassured her of Lord Jierdan Firkraag's trustworthiness.

After several more miles of walking, Leah rejoined Jaheira at the rearguard of the group, continuing in comfortable silence, both of them slowly growing exhausted from the long day of walking. In front of them, Minsc showed no sign of stopping, while Anomen seemed to be consciously striving not to display any sign of tiredness. Yoshimo seemed annoyingly cool and well capable of walking all night, while Nalia was starting to occasionally stumble, however, her drive to rescue her father obviously forced her to ignore all that pain mounting in her legs.

Aerie was doing the worst, though, the elf beginning to suffer terribly, her boots not exactly best suited for long travels and combined with her lack of endurance, Leah could well imagine that the state of her feet was close to abysmal by now. It wasn't long before the young elf turned to her, pained expression on her face. "How much longer must we walk still? My feet are aching so badly!"

Leah looked around, it was starting to get dark but she had hoped to keep up for an hour or two more. "How bad is it?" she asked.

"I w-would really prefer if we'd stopped," Aerie said unhappily.

Leah exchanged a glance with Jaheira. "We will have to stop sooner or later," the druidess said. "But the more distance we cover today, the sooner we can reach the Keep tomorrow."

Leah turned back to Aerie. "Look, I know it's probably hurting a great deal, but every hour we gain today could save more lives tomorrow. If you tell me that your hurting feet are more important than that, then I will call for a stop immediately," she said. "If not, we'll keep walking for another hour and set up camp then."

Aerie stared at her for a bit, looking hurt. "T-there is no need to be so harsh," she sniffed. "But a-alright, I will endure."

"I'm sorry if I upset you, Aerie, but as I told you before, adventuring is not an all sunshine and rainbows. I'm afraid that you will have to toughen up very quickly," Leah said apologetically before exchanging another look with Jaheira, but the druidess merely shrugged. _Was that really so harsh of me?_ Leah wondered at herself. _I suppose, but __maybe the constant 'Jaheira-treatment' has made me so numb to harshness that I dish it out myself without realizing it!_

In the end, Aerie only lasted a little more than half an hour, and most of that was while being supported by the always-helpful Yoshimo. After the elven priestess had declared herself unable to walk a single yard further, Minsc had scooped her up in his mighty arms, the girl too tired to protest, and proceeded to carry her the rest of the way, Aerie eventually falling asleep in his arms. Having reached the edge of the forest, they quickly lit a campfire, set up tents, rolled out their sleeping bags and mere minutes later everyone was fast asleep under the watchful eyes of Minsc, taking the first guard shift.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

The campfire crackled merrily in the dark of the night, the first light of dawn still several hours away. Despite the peaceful mood surrounding the campsite, Jaheira was sitting on a log with a tense expression on her face, the druid's attention focused on the tent she was sharing with her young charge. Sounds of restless tossing and turning, accompanied with the occasional sob had been reaching her delicate half-elven ears for the best part of the last hour, and she was torn between waking Leah from her nightmare or maintaining the hope that it would pass and the girl would be able to get some uninterrupted sleep.

Everything had gone quiet for a brief while now and Jaheira slowly started to relax, assuming that whatever dreams had been plaguing Leah, had retreated. The reason for silence soon became apparent, however, when the young priestess crawled out of their tent, well awake. Wearing only a light tunic, Leah's forehead and bare arms shone in the light of campfire, the girl drenched in cold sweat from her nightmares. Leah smoothened out her dishevelled hair before looking up and making eye contact with the druidess.

Without a word, the girl crawled across the small clearing on all fours and perched on the log next to Jaheira. The druidess picked up a thick wool shirt she had discarded a while ago when the campfire had started to become too warm for her and placed it around Leah's shoulders, the girl looking up at her gratefully.

"Nightmares," Jaheira said a while later, having waited for Leah to calm down. "I would not try to intrude upon your memories, however, your dreams have proven to have a certain significance and impact on us all in the past."

Leah looked at the druidess again, opening her mouth to speak only to have a tremor run through the young priestess, forcing her to pause. Jaheira put her hand on the girl's shoulder. By Silvanus, she was shivering like a leaf. Without much thought, she put her arms around Leah, pulling the young woman closer. "T-thanks," Leah managed a while later. "A truly strange one this time... I... I am not sure I can make sense of it all."

"Tell me what you can," Jaheira urged gently.

"I was back in Candlekeep... or some weird, twisted version of it... Imoen was there with me," Leah paused for a moment before continuing. "And Gorion, Elminster... and Khalid," Jaheira felt her grip on the girl tightening minutely. "There was Sarevok too, as well as... the mage, Irenicus. He... he was leading me around the courtyard... telling me how my old life did not matter, repeating it again and again as he killed them all in my dream."

"Ha can't hurt you now," Jaheira whispered in the girl's ear. "It was only a dream."

"I just don't know what he meant, Jaheira... what old life am I clinging to? Did he mean that... if I accept who I am..." she pulled a little away, casting a fearful glance at the rest of their companions, but they were all sleeping soundly. "If I would just become what I was born to be, then anything I've done prior to that... I guess it would not matter."

"So, you think this dream was also fuelled by your heritage."

"I don't know..." Leah's reply, more of a strangled sob.

"I think your experiences in the care of this Irenicus would alone be reason for dreadful nightmares, your unique traits or not," Jaheira mused. "It seemed as if he was hell-bent on somehow releasing your essence, for whatever infernal purpose it might be. You might have just remembered something he was ranting at you during one of those... sessions with him."

"I... I suppose. Oh, Jaheira... and then, Imoen stared at me, her eyes so accusing when she claimed I would come too late... right before Irenicus turned her into stone and shattered it into a pile of rubble," Leah started sobbing again.

"It was your fear talking," Jaheira said, gently rocking the girl, almost like cradling a babe. "I worry about her too, though obviously the two of you are like sisters. But you must try and console yourself in the knowledge that we are doing all we can to rescue her as soon as possible."

"Are we?" Leah looked up at her. "Yes... I suppose we have been busy." She seemed to calm down then, allowing Jaheira to eventually release her. The girl sat alongside her quietly for a while. "Say, Jaheira... it just occurred to me, this isn't your guard shift, why are you even up at this hour?"

"I, ah... could not sleep," the druidess replied evasively.

"Really now," Leah looked at her a little accusingly. "You listened to me, now let me do the same for you, please."

"It is nothing, truly," she tried to downplay the subject, but of course, the girl was a stubborn one and when she had set her mind on something, rarely let go. _I do wonder from where she has gotten those traits? She was nothing like that when we just met._

"Jaheira..." there was a teasing warning in Leah's voice, one that was difficult to ignore. She did not particularly want to relive the whole experience of her own dreams again, waking up in the middle of the night with her tunic soaked in sweat and clinging to her skin, breathing slow and ragged, all of it had been incredibly unpleasant. And to have that easterner witness it made it particularly embarrassing. At least Yoshimo had the good sense not to make a single comment on it, withdrawing back into his tent when she had stated her intent to take over the guard duty from him, knowing that she would see no more sleep this night.

"It was… quite cruel, in a way," Jaheira said quietly, closing her eyes as she spoke. "I was reliving the events of the previous days, only with Khalid at my side. Silvanus, it felt so real, he said the words and did the things that I know he would do in those exact situations... and then, come evening we were about to retire together, when the realization dawned on me... he was not _truly_ there, never would be again." She shook her head adamantly. "Stupid really, I thought I was stronger than this. I should be."

"No, that was quite cruel, as you said," Leah's brown eyes were full of deep all-encompassing sadness. "You know what they say, there is no weakness in honest sorrow."

"Only in succumbing to depression over what cannot be changed," Jaheira finished. "I have heard that before, Gorion again?"

"The prophecies of Alaundo he made me read," Leah nodded.

"I learned from the same book then, it seems," Jaheira smiled. "But worry not over me, I will be fine now. Thank you."

"Oh, I doubt I will just stop worrying because you say I shouldn't," Leah shook her head resolutely. "But we can agree to just keep looking out for each other, can't we?"

"I… yes, very well, we can do as much," Jaheira finally relented. It was of course preposterous to think that she needed looking after, especially by this girl who had been through so much and of whom she honestly could not expect any more, but Leah had always insisted on giving especially when it was she who needed so much herself. But, if it put Leah's mind at ease... there was no harm in agreeing to it, after all.

They sat together in comfortable silence, until the first light of dawn appeared through the thick canopy of the forests surrounding the campsite. Leah shifted restlessly, and she caught the girl's stare. "You wish to pray," she said, no explanations between the two necessary.

"Yes, I should," Leah nodded. "I'll just retreat a little away from the camp, I do not wish to wake anyone."

"I will go with you, not the whole way, but far enough to keep an eye both on you and the camp," Jaheira said, rising from the log and stretching, limbs having gone a little stiff from the hours spent sitting.

"Thanks," Leah said, heading towards the bushes and carefully picking her way through where the canopy seemed scarcer. Jaheira set to follow the girl, until together they found a suitable spot amidst thick brambles. Having picked off a handful of berries as she watched Leah settle on the ground, Jaheira retreated halfway back to the camp, choosing to stand with her shoulder against an old birch, slowly going through the picked blackberries, wincing at the sour taste.

The song of the young Sorlyn soon reached her ears again, forcing her to pause and listen. Leah's singing always tore at her heartstrings in a way that she both hated and still could not get enough of. The girl's rich, soft voice sang words in Elven now, an ancient lullaby of the People, perhaps as old as time itself. She knew this song, even if she did not know from where. Had her own elven mother sung it to her before she had been taken away, brought to safety into the care of the druids? She could not remember, having been too young. There were only sparse details, she could remember the touch, always gentle like caress, the smell of her mother's subtle perfume, a hint of lavender and sage, and that voice, rich like Leah's but without the unyielding strength, more like a gentle, soothing whisper.

_But is that memory even true?_ She caught herself thinking. _Or is it just something I have created myself from the need to have such memories? _

She finally shook off the enthralling spell of Leah's singing, the remaining berries falling from her hand into the moss below. All this thinking that she had been doing lately, she did not need any of this, not when there was so much to do. She turned back towards the camp, seeing that by now someone else was up and stretching, the large frame suggesting Minsc. _Good,_ she thought, _we can get ready and going, doing something productive instead of this blasted soul searching._ She could hear the sounds of someone heavily pushing through the bushes behind her, Leah done with her prayers. _And it seems I am not the only one in dire need of a distraction. _

* * *

From the distance of the small mound they were standing upon, not much indicated that the keep had already fallen, or that it was indeed under attack. There was no attacking force amassed outside, the drawbridge was raised and everything inside appeared quiet and calm. However, the possibility that the attack had been repelled and the invaders had retread evaporated once they had approached closer and saw the grizzly sight outside the road leading up to the gates. Bodies of dozen if not more horribly mutilated defenders of the keep were strapped to high poles alongside the road, a sign of warning to everyone and an effective way to break the morale of the remaining guards.

Her worst fears confirmed, Nalia was difficult to console, Aerie and Leah doing their best to reassure the young mage that not all hope was lost. As Jaheira's sharp eyes scanned the exterior of the keep, she was well aware that such hope was very faint indeed, though it could not be discarded entirely. There might very well be some small pockets of resistance within the inner keep, if only there would be a way to get inside other than knocking their heads against the heavy iron shod gates.

Having left Nalia with Aerie, Leah rejoined the druidess, Anomen following in her step. The young priestess looked grim at the realization that their task had just been made that much more difficult, and the extra reward for rescuing Nalia's father seemed almost certainly unattainable. Of course, knowing Leah, she was more disturbed by the heavy losses of human lives, likely including the lord of the keep, the girl fortunately still far from the ruthless detached practicality Jaheira had developed over her many seasons as an adventurer.

"'Tis abhorrent to think that a heinous act such as this can be performed right outside Athkatla, almost under the Council's noses," Anomen fumed, his fists tightly clenched. "Sometimes I do not understand why the Order does not take direct control of the Council. When I see an injustice like this, I think the Order could do far more to turn this into a fair and equitable land, don't you think?"

Jaheira glanced at Leah, the young squire obviously searching for her approval of his esteemed Order. "Aren't you afraid that the Order itself might become corrupted by the politics you mention?" the girl asked.

"Lady Leah, you clearly underestimate the purity of our hearts and the devotion to our ideals. The paladins and knights of Radiant Heart are incorruptible, and I hope in time you will see these words to be true," Anomen replied, his face flushing from what he obviously perceived as an insult to his beliefs. "But surely, my lady, even you must think that evil can be fought with more than just a sword?"

Leah looked very tired when she turned to answer him. "I don't know the answer to that, Anomen. Yes, I suppose?"

Jaheira quickly intervened before Anomen had the chance to add more about the greatness of the Radiant Heart. "I think what Leah is saying is that it would be ignorant for her to speak on matters of which she is not well informed," the girl looked at her, nodding in agreement. "She has spent the whole of two days in Amn, not much time in which to form an opinion on how well your Council governs its lands."

"I would have hoped that the questions I posed were general enough that anyone would be able to answer with the thoughts of greater good in mind," Anomen looked unconvinced, but then his expression softened just a little and he nodded at her. "Though I suppose your words hold merit. Perhaps we can speak of it later, once you have more impressions of this fair land."

"If I may interrupt this fascinating discussion," it was Yoshimo, together with Minsc returning from a little scouting excursion. Jaheira was quite glad for the break in conversation. While Leah might have been tolerant of Anomen's constant seeking of approval, Jaheira was far less excited about the squire's attitude. "My large friend and I found some of the surviving guards, covering in a wooden palisade on the other side of the keep. Perhaps we should investigate?"

Overhearing his words, Nalia sprang to her feet suddenly, bowling Aerie over in the process. "My... my father might be there! There is a chance... let us hurry!" she spoke excitedly, rushing ahead of everyone. Jaheira led the others after her, only Yoshimo staying a little behind to help Aerie, the elf looking a little peeved at Nalia's less than subtle treatment of her.

In the end, Nalia's hopes were crushed for the second time that day for her father was not amongst those who had sought refuge at the palisade. Nine guards and their captain, a man called Arat, had been cut off on the outer walls as the invaders had breached the lines of the defenders and entered the keep itself. There was nothing left for them to do than to fight through to the breached gates and rush to safety, going after the masses that had poured into the keep would have been a suicidal attempt. So, here they had been sitting for a day and a half, their only hope for reinforcements of some kind, and even though Captain Arat clearly looked sceptical about their chances of success, still, a plan was hastily forged.

Once Nalia had recovered her wits, she remembered of the secret passage she had been using to sneak in and out of the keep. The plan would see them enter the passage, fight their way through the lower levels of the keep, stealthily sneak out into the courtyard and lower the drawbridge again, allowing Arat's forces to storm in, join Leah's group and take the attackers by surprise. Leah had wondered why all of them could not enter together, using the secret passage, but apparently the tight quarters they would be travelling through would not be suitable for a force of nearly twenty men and women.

With that decided, there was nothing left than to wish each other luck and finally set to their task.

* * *

Several hours later they had progressed well through the ground level of the keep. The troll opposition had been quite scattered, seemingly convinced that the defending forces had been routed and many trolls had fallen prey to their ambushes. One of the rare servants that they managed to rescue knew to tell that Lord d'Arnise had still been alive quite recently, taken to the cellars by the leader of the invading troll army, so it seemed that the fiercest opposition still awaited them.

The servant, Daleson, had also mentioned that Nalia's father had tried to reforge an ancient weapon in his possession, something that apparently would have been very effective against the trolls. Nalia identified the weapon as the fabled Flail of Ages, created ages ago by powerful rakshasa and due to its dark creation the weapon had been kept hidden and its parts separated, making sure any divinations of the rakshasa would never reveal its location.

Already, they had managed to find the base of the weapon with a single flail head attached, hidden in a secret room behind an old forge. Anomen had taken upon himself to wield the weapon against the trolls for no one else had any training or experience in using a flail. "Until Lord d'Arnise can use it again himself," the squire had said, proudly accepting the flail from Nalia. Jaheira could only pray that the squire's well-meant words came true, but she was not holding much hope.

As they were all slowly gathering at the heavy front gate leading out from the keep and into the courtyard, Nalia quickly explained to Leah the closest way up to the fortified walls where they would have to operate the wheel mechanism in order to lower the drawbridge. Coming out of the large kitchen storeroom to join the others, having watched Minsc torch a still twitching ice troll, Jaheira felt something in her left knee give way for some reason, and she stumbled, twisting her leg painfully.

Steadying herself against the wall, she looked around quickly, hoping that no one had noticed, only to find Leah's brown eyes locked on her. "It is nothing," she hissed as the girl approached, the druidess herself casting a light healing spell on the painful knee. "I must have picked up a strain sitting in that cold cell for months. It will take some time to get back into shape, I fear."

"I know," the girl smiled, somewhat darkly. "I notice I have been getting exhausted faster than before."

"Well, I do not have any right to complain. Whatever I suffered is not comparable to what Irenicus put you through."

"I suppose," Leah grimaced, the druidess immediately regretting having brought up all the suffering they had endured in that accursed dungeon. "You will be fine, I take it?" the young priestess asked, Jaheira simply nodding at that. "We will have to move fast, I don't want anyone to be near the doors when we lower the bridge and the trolls rush out to meet Arat's men."

"Are you trying to coddle me?" Jaheira snapped. Leah looked a little hurt at her outburst, the druidess then taking a few experimental steps, testing the knee. There was no more pain, only a lingering echo of it. "Everything is fine, see?"

Moments later, Leah and Yoshimo opened the doors and Jaheira, Minsc and Anomen charged through, quickly overpowering the few lazy looking trolls in the courtyard. Aerie's acid arrows and Nalia's fire spells quickly stopped the fallen trolls from regenerating, and together they all moved up the western wall, no more opposition between them and the wheel mechanism. Shortly after, the drawbridge was lowered and Arat's men charged in, the loud creaking of the bridge alerting the trolls inside and several more now rushed forth to meet the rejuvenated defenders of the keep, trolls followed by a group of snake-like creatures, the yuan-ti.

Sounds of battle, screams of men and hissing of the snake people erupted from below, as the group of seven slowly crawled back down from the fortifications, after it was clear that no more troll reinforcements from the keep were arriving. Yoshimo, Nalia and Aerie remained up on the wall, pelting the enemy below with arrows and spells, while the melee group now attacked the yuan-ti from behind, scoring several cheap kills before their opponents realized they had been surrounded from both sides and started panicking.

In the end, the trolls and the yuan-ti were dispatched without incurring serious losses on their side. Arat lost one more guard during the attack, his head split together with his helmet by a vicious overhead slash from one of the yuan-ti. Another guard had lost his sword arm, ripped out of its socket by a maddened troll before anyone could react, but thankfully Anomen's quick reaction in healing the bloody stump had prevented the man from bleeding to death.

"What do you propose we do now?" Leah finally asked, standing a little aside together with Nalia and Captain Arat.

"You said that Lord d'Arnise has been taken to the cellars," Arat spoke. "I suggest we do the following. Together with the guards we will clear and secure the upper floors."

"Maybe Auntie still lives," Nalia exclaimed hopefully. Arat did not seem excited about that prospect, for some reason. "You have to try and rescue her, Captain, please!"

"Very well, Miss Nalia," Arat bowed. "The rest of you should try and make it to the cellars. If you hurry, perhaps not all is lost yet..."

"Yes, Leah, let's hurry, please," Nalia urged in a pleading voice.

"As you would wish it, Nalia," Leah said, rounding everyone up and making sure they were ready, before turning to the young mage again. "Show us the way then, lady d'Arnise!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_So far so good,_ Leah thought as the group readied themselves for the final push into the catacombs under the d'Arnise keep, the prison cells and rusted torture implements painfully at odds with Nalia's insistence to refer to this glum place as mere 'cellar'. They had just finished off some slightly tougher troll resistance and then thanks to Yoshimo's ingenuity, lured a group of fearsome umber hulks away from their path and into an empty prison cell. Locked up in the tight space, the terrifying creatures now awaited their eventual execution, which would have to wait until the rest of the dungeon was secured.

Closer inspection of the cell block revealed the reason for the umber hulk presence. At the back of one of the cells, there loomed a wide opening, a freshly dug large curved tunnel leading up and outside, handiwork of the umber hulks, no doubt brought here for this single purpose to give the invading army the opportunity to take the keep's defenders by surprise. After all, the gates of the keep had never been breached, as the invaders had already taken the castle from the inside.

Now, as they marched through the last set of doors and into a larger chapel, a grim sight opened to their view. Three trolls, one of them larger than any Leah had previously seen, were caught busy tearing and beating up at something that had once been a human, now nothing but a bloody pulp. Leah's thought to quickly devise a strategy while the trolls were distracted immediately shattered as Nalia recognized the blood-spattered garments of the beaten, and by all the looks by now mercifully deceased man.

"Monsters!" Nalia shouted, rushing towards the trolls, magic blazing at her fingertips as she readied a spell. "You will pay for what you have done to my home, to my father!"

"Father? You live this place?" the largest of the trolls bellowed in broken Common, ignoring the flame arrow that had knocked one of his fellows several feet backwards. "Then you die! That was deal, and you die for sure! Rocksmash pack keep deal for stronger!"

"What? What deal?" Nalia stopped in confusion, her next spell interrupted. "Someone put you up to this? Who was it? If you are just some hired muscle, tell me who put you up to it! I will make you talk, I swear!"

The ranting seemed to have distracted the trolls momentarily, and Leah quickly ordered for Minsc to get in front of Nalia, shielding her, the enraged mage having left herself in a very vulnerable position to any troll charge. Jaheira and Anomen moved to intercept the two smaller trolls, Leah choosing to stay near Minsc, realizing that he might need the most of her support against the troll leader. It wasn't long until the trolls got tired of the shouting and ran towards them, Nalia and Aerie unleashing their spells, but they didn't seem to slow the fearsome beasts down by much.

Jaheira, with all her experience, realized that she did not need to risk by going all out on the offense, she merely needed to keep her opponent occupied until the rest of them had dealt with the troll leader. So, the druidess simply sat on the defensive, easily defending against the troll's powerful but slow swings, her own plain non-magical scimitar occasionally nicking the troll, but to no great effect.

Anomen, on the other hand, showed no such patience, too eager to claim the glory of a kill. In an open exchange of blows, both the squire and his opponent had suffered many wounds, but fortunately for Anomen, the now fully assembled Flail of Ages gave him just enough advantage to prevail and to finally smash the troll's head, the flail's powerful enchantments immediately halting the troll's regenerative power and killing the beast. Anomen, exhausted from the many blows he had taken, was forced to pause and heal himself thoroughly before rejoining the fray.

The fight against the troll leader was difficult, despite their overwhelming five to one advantage in numbers. Countless times Leah tried to sneak up on the beast from behind, trying to stab it with her falchion, only to have the massive troll swirl around and lash out at her. Fortunately, she was nimble enough and always managed to dodge just in time, and Minsc exploited these openings as much as he could. Between his strikes, Yoshimo's arrows and the spells of the two mages, the large troll was gradually getting worn down, the creature's endurance shocking to say the least. When the beast finally fell, Minsc went down with it, bloody and beaten, but still a beaming smile and shout of glory on his lips, despite the pain.

Having ordered Aerie to heal their ranger friend, Leah led the others to aid Jaheira, quickly despatching her troll opponent who by now had grown extremely frustrated at the time wasting tactics of the druidess. Once Aerie had finished her healing chant to mend Minsc's injuries, the ranger once again up on his feet, silence descended upon the chapel, as Nalia sat down next to the corpse of her father, tears flowing across her cheeks. Everyone discreetly left her alone, stepping out of the chapel, as the young mage's sobbing and the occasional wail grew in strength.

"There was nothing we could have done, right?" Leah looked at Jaheira.

"No," the druidess shook her head sadly. "There was simply too much damage."

Leah turned away, struggling with her own emotions. Nalia's pain had reawakened some old wounds she thought had long since healed, and while her heart bled for the girl's loss, her mind drifted to that open field several miles outside the gates of Candlekeep where she had found Gorion, skewered by the same sword that Minsc now carried on his back. The feeling of loss and despair had stayed with her for many months after, and realizing the pain that Nalia would be going through she nearly started to cry herself.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, comforting in its intent. Leah turned around to assure Jaheira that she would be fine, but much to her surprise, found Anomen's eyes focused on her, kind and full of compassion. Ashamed, she quickly turned away.

"We did all we could, my lady," he said gently.

"I know Anomen… thank you. It's just that... I lost Gorion... my foster father," she explained, seeing the confusion on his face. "I lost him to a similar fate not long ago. To see it happening to Nalia... it strikes a powerful chord within me."

"I am sorry to hear it, Leah. Sometimes this world can be very cruel, can it not?" something in Anomen's voice suggested he was well familiar with loss himself, but Leah did not feel it was a fitting moment to inquire. They spoke no more, until Nalia emerged from the chapel a good while later, her eyes reddened and cheeks still wet from crying.

"I think... I will be fine, now," the young mage managed bravely. "Enough. I would leave this place." With that she turned and walked away towards the stairs leading out of the dungeon.

Leah quickly motioned for the others to follow before beckoning Yoshimo to her side. "You seem like someone I could delegate to arrange a creative disposal of those umber hulks," she said quietly.

The Kara-turan grinned broadly. "I thought you would never ask. I have just the thing for the task," he produced a small vial of amber liquid. "If they don't burn well on their own, this will make sure they roast nicely."

"You can spare me the details, I think," Leah said, walking away. "As long as they're dead, I don't really care how."

Upstairs, Leah arrived in the large central hall to see Nalia discussing something with Captain Arat and an elderly noblewoman, who Leah surmised to be the Auntie Nalia had referred to earlier. The discussion seemed to grow rather heated, particularly between the two women, while the captain just looked like he wanted to be elsewhere. In the end, Arat excused himself, taking some of the surviving guards with him to the dungeon to take care of Lord d'Arnise's remains and prepare them for funeral.

After a few more high-pitched exchanges, the elder noblewoman threw her arms up in despair and stormed away, passing Leah and her friends but not sparing even a barbed glare at them, retreating upstairs. Having stood in one spot for a while, clenching her fists and trying to reign in her temper, Nalia finally let out a deep breath and rejoined them.

"My... my home. My father... what is there left for me?" the young woman looked forlorn. "Someone has done this... but who?"

"I am sorry we could not save your father," Leah said. "I wish I could help you more, but I am not sure in what capacity we could be useful. Rebuilding the keep will take time, I have no doubt, and I will need to resume my travels soon."

"Yes... yes, of course, I will see to your reward shortly," Nalia spoke, looking thoughtful. "Afterwards... well, I don't know what will happen. I wonder if you... hmm, no, I don't think so..."

"Speak up, Nalia," Leah urged her. "If there's something I can do, I will."

"It is just... you see, I am betrothed to a man I do not wish to marry. Father said he would stall as long as I wished to, but now he is gone. Aunt Delcia already reminded me of my obligations... that was the reason for our confrontation you saw just now."

_Hmm, so the old crone has a motive, perhaps?_ Leah wondered. "She did not seem too broken up about your father's death."

"What? Oh no, I hope you are not implying anything, she is devastated, she just... knows how to guard her emotions better than I do," Nalia said. "But as I was saying, I was betrothed to Isaea Roenall, a brat of a man. Coming from an influential family, now they will surely push forth with the agreement, and I will be forced into a life of quiet nobility. I should not be surprised that Auntie sees this as an opportunity to improve our standing and the fortunes of our family."

"Purely altruistic on her part, I am sure," she heard Jaheira snorting nearby, Nalia shooting an angry stare at the druidess.

"Still, I have worked so hard to distinguish myself from nobles such as the Roenall family, I could not stand to be associated with them in any way. Or indeed, see them lay claim to my father's holdings, it would... no, I do not think I can stay to witness that, it would break my heart," Nalia said, her fists clenched from the emotion. "I... I think it would be best if I left. There is little remaining for me here, and the Roenall's will soon attempt to usurp their control of the place."

Leah looked around the grand hall of the keep, her brow furrowing as she was contemplating something. Even in its current state, slightly damaged in the battle, the large castle was impressive. In a way it slightly reminded her of Candlekeep, even if the layout was completely different, this place had a heart of its own, oozing rich history. And Leah could not imagine herself ever giving up as easily on a place she called home. "I think you should stay here and try to do something to resist these Roenall's," she told the young mage.

"How dare you?" Nalia was incensed. "You know nothing of our traditions, our laws or the wealth and power of the Roenall's! If you had even the slightest idea of what you are talking about, you would see that I am completely out of options!"

"Remember, the keep never fell to the trolls, it was only because of those umber hulks that they were able to breach it from the inside. Perhaps defending it with force is not the best way, but it still is an option," Leah pointed out, ignoring Nalia's righteous fury.

"I cannot ask these soldiers to risk their lives for me again, so soon after this attack!" Nalia exclaimed, unconvinced. "It would just end with the Roenall's throwing more and more soldiers against the walls, resulting in countless lives lost, all because of my stubbornness in ignoring my obligations and because of my defiance of the traditions."

"I believe I speak for most of the guard, Miss Nalia, when I say that we would be honoured to make the effort," Captain Arat spoke up behind her. "Our loyalty to your father was unshakable, and it extends to you as well. And if not for the loyalty, or their payroll, the guard have vested interest in protecting the keep. Should this place fall to the Roenall's, all of us would be forced to leave and while as of late this has not proven to be the safest form of employment, they are all interested in remaining here."

"No… no, I don't think I can ask that of you," Nalia shook her head.

"Lady Nalia," Anomen approached her. "I have been thinking, and I believe that there is a solution that has been used several times in recent history. Lady Nalia, as an heir to your family's holdings, it is your right to choose a master of this castle. You could ask someone to become the figurehead of the keep and assume the role of a ward of sorts, yourself."

"Hmm, I suppose... but would the Roenall's truly accept such arrangement? They might want to push their claims despite everything..."

"Ah, but they would have no legal justification for doing so," Anomen explained. "Even if their influence is great, the Council simply would not stand for one noble family attacking another so openly."

"I am starting to like this idea..." Nalia mused, spark of hope in her eyes now. "And since you are of a noble background yourself, it might make the arrangement all the more convincing."

"Err, my lady, I am afraid I would not be best suited for this task..." Anomen stammered, looking very uncomfortable.

"But why would you offer such solution only to decline yourself?" Nalia looked surprised.

"I, ah... the path of the Roenall's and the Delryn's has crossed before," Anomen admitted, looking ashamed. "I must confess that my father's less than fortunate business practices have put us indebted to many, Roenall's amongst them. If they knew of my involvement, they would not hesitate to exploit it, and perhaps would also try to sabotage my aspirations regarding the Order."

Leah guessed the latter part was the greatest worry for Anomen, but declined from commenting on it. "Must the figurehead be a man?" she asked. "Perhaps..."

"No offense, Leah, but you simply do not cut a very daunting figure," Nalia said quickly, much to Leah's chagrin. "I do not believe that Yoshimo looks the part either, and your friend Minsc..."

"Minsc and Boo would like to rule the nice castle!" Minsc said excitedly, the hamster on his shoulder looking just as intrigued about the opportunity. "Boo could oversee the cheese and peanut supplies, while Minsc takes care of the less important duties!"

"Well, you heard it for yourself," Nalia sighed. "I think we're out of options here, unless you reconsider, Anomen."

"I apologize most profusely, but I fear I must decline," the squire looked guilty as he spoke.

"This is all a waste of our precious time," it seemed as Jaheira's patience had finally worn out. "We can ill afford to stand around listening how the girl lacks the backbone to do what is right and the rest of you," she glared at Anomen in particular, the squire withering under her stare. "Are simply throwing responsibility around like a hot potato! Now, decide one way or another and let us be done with it!"

While the others stood in silence, ashamed and looking at their feet, something occurred to Leah. "Nalia... are you absolutely certain that this figurehead must be a man?" she asked.

"Well, I guess if there was a woman as intimidating as..." the young mage stopped, something dawning on them all.

"What are you staring at me like that for?" Jaheira asked sharply. Then the realization dawned on her. "Oh no! Deal with your keep yourself, I am not getting involved in this nonsense!"

"But... you are forceful enough to maybe make this work. Certainly, we would need to be creative in disguising your elven ancestry, because the Roenall's would not accept that, but that should be easily done," Nalia argued. "And despite your manner, there is something about you..." she silenced herself quickly, as Jaheira glared at her fiercely.

"Jaheira, might I have a word with you?" Leah spoke up, beckoning her friend to step aside.

"Thank you Leah, this foolishness was starting to grate on my nerves," Jaheira exclaimed in relief when they had both retreated away from the group.

"Oh you misunderstand me, I want you to accept this responsibility."

"What? Why?" the druidess looked shocked. "We do not need to get involved into these affairs, what possible reason would you have for wasting our time so?"

"Practical reasons, actually. The keep is very close to Athkatla, and it has nice wide stables, if we could secure horses, it would probably be only two or three hour ride to the city," Leah started to explain. "It would also save us gold we would otherwise spend in inns, paying for our rooms... and the lodgings here would be far more comfortable than in any inn. All in all..." Leah mused, looking around. "I find this could be a very good base of operations."

Jaheira did not look utterly convinced. "I still think you are mad. You expect me to deal with some uppity nobles?"

"I expect you to send them covering from fear of getting their dainty faces bruised, actually," Leah chuckled. "But just think of what we could gain if we manage to make this plan work. Neither of us is fond of cities, especially large, dirty and intimidating ones like Athkatla."

"Hmm, you do make a decent point," the druidess looked more thoughtful now. "Very well, if you truly think this is a good idea... I will try."

"Ladies and gentlemen..." Leah spoke up as they rejoined the rest of the group. "Please bow to your new overlord, Lady Jaheira," and she did so herself, bowing deeply. Jaheira's only reaction was a groan before she buried her face in her hands.

* * *

_A/N: Well, this is the end of the old chapters that were written almost 3 years ago. I can't help but to think that these last ones were a bit dull and uninspired. The good thing is that I have the game installed again, and I have some fun ideas where to go from here. I should have a new, freshly written chapter coming up soon, if everything goes well. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Yet again, Jaheira woke in the middle of the night. While for her it was nothing unusual in its own right, this time she had the strangest feeling as if she had not been awakened by her nightmares, but rather some weird explosion-like noises in the distance. However, such explanation seemed utterly ridiculous. It was perhaps only three or four hours past the midnight, the sky outside was pitch black and silence reigned all around her. Still, now that she had found herself awake, the druidess knew that this was the end of her rest this night, kicking off the soft silken bedsheets and getting out of the bed.

Nalia's keep was so large that all of them could enjoy the privacy of having separate rooms, but in a way Jaheira found it a little disconcerting, having grown used to the idea of sharing accommodations with Leah during their travels. But at least now she did not have to worry about waking the girl, Jaheira stretching lightly before leaving the room, wearing nothing but her light sleeping tunic, ending a good finger length above her knees. In truth, the druidess preferred to sleep in the nude, but she had made a concession out of respect to her travelling companions, not wanting to embarrass someone as naive as Anomen or give any wrong ideas to sly rogues like Yoshimo.

The castle and the rest of its inhabitants seemed well and truly asleep, the hallways were empty and Jaheira swiftly and quietly strode through the corridors, reaching the heavy iron shod doors that lead directly from the second floor of the keep out onto the fortifications. For a while she simply stood frozen like a statue, drawing deep breaths of the cool night air, relaxing as her head cleared and some of the stress and the tension bled away. She was about to turn around and return to the keep, when suddenly she heard a subtle creaking sound coming from somewhere a little ahead of her.

Realizing that someone was out here with her, Jaheira tensed up immediately, crouching a little and trying to detect the source of the sound. Her elven vision did help, and though it seemed as if there was nobody directly ahead of her, she heard the noise again, a screeching sound that she remembered hearing before. _The drawbridge wheel! _Jaheira suddenly realized, darting forward, cutting around the corner of the battlements and sneaking up on a figure in dark, hunched over the large wheel, struggling to turn it.

Having finally identified the one trying to lower the drawbridge, Jaheira straightened up and let out a little cough to alert the other, receiving a startled gasp as Nalia's beloved aunt turned around sharply and faced her with a surprised, yet disgusted glare. "Nice evening for a stroll, Lady Delcia?" the druidess asked casually.

"What is it to you, peasant?" Delcia spat back, quickly recovering from the surprise. "You should count yourself fortunate that your presence is even tolerated within these walls!"

"How charming," Jaheira clicked her tongue. "Would you mind explaining what are you doing out here, trying to lower the drawbridge?"

"I certainly _**would**_ mind having to explain myself!" Delcia protested. "I will not be held accountable to some lower class mongrel! It is your duty to assist your betters without questioning their actions. And right now I order you to turn this wheel!"

"I do not think that would be wise," Jaheira shook her head warningly. "In fact, I would like you to step away from the wheel, or I will have to remove you forcefully."

"Threatened in my own home?" Delcia fumed. "The very nerve of it! But you will not find me an easy prey, brute!" she withdrew a thin and sharp looking knife, making Jaheira halt her advance, not that she was truly frightened of facing an old noblewoman, armed with a letter knife.

However, things did not even escalate to an uneven physical confrontation. Lady Delcia suddenly collapsed with a heavy grunt, toppling to the ground as a dark figure appeared behind her, the newcomer revealing himself to be Yoshimo, smiling as he bowed lightly to Jaheira. "I knew that the old crone had to be watched," the rogue smirked, looking pleased with himself. "It seems as if I was not alone in my suspicions."

"Fortunately she overestimated her own physical strength and struggled to turn the wheel," Jaheira nodded, unwilling to admit that she had stumbled upon Delcia by accident. "I imagine there is a large group of Roenall soldiers waiting somewhere outside the gates."

"That would be a safe assumption, yes," Yoshimo agreed. "But still, Lady Delcia presents us with a problem," he continued. "I have a feeling that despite their heated arguments, she still holds some power over her niece. Even if young Nalia would believe us instead of her aunt, I do not think that she would dare to act against Delcia in any way."

"I see what you mean, bounty hunter," Jaheira agreed reluctantly. "While Lady Delcia remains in the keep... attempts like these might continue. It would be better if she... left."

"Since I doubt that she would be willing to simply walk away, I assume you are implying that she should leave the scene... permanently?" Yoshimo guessed, earning a sharp nod from Jaheira. "I admire your practicality, my lady," he smiled at the unimpressed looking druidess.

"She has revealed her evil intent," Jaheira shrugged simply. "Her sympathies lay with the Roenall's, and that makes her our enemy. But do make certain that the body is not found. We must do what we can to spare Nalia's feelings. She will make an attempt to find her aunt."

"Lady Delcia will never be seen or found again, I swear that on my reputation as a bounty hunter," Yoshimo spoke, bowing to the druidess.

"Very well," Jaheira nodded. "Also, did you take care of the umber hulk tunnels as I instructed you to do? Because if you have not done so, there is still a looming backdoor entrance into the keep, begging to be exploited."

"I took care of it, but not... exactly in the way you instructed me to do," Yoshimo replied, looking smug.

"Enlighten me," the half-elf demanded, crossing her arms on her chest.

"You did not hear the explosions a while ago?"

"Those were real? I thought I was merely dreaming," Jaheira confessed.

"Instead of collapsing the tunnel, I decided to fix it with several explosive traps," Yoshimo grinned broadly. "You were correct, they did try to use it again to enter the keep. I do not know how many of the Roenall soldiers now lay buried under the rock and rubble, but I would estimate between one to two dozen."

Jaheira winced, feeling rather impressed by the Kara-Turan's thinking, but obviously reluctant to hand out praise easily. "An interesting and creative solution," she finally said. "You are proving to be a dangerous man, Yoshimo."

"As I said, I have a reputation that must be maintained," the rogue replied with that disarming smile of his. "It is in my nature to think of everything."

"Except that one time when you were captured in your room at the Copper Coronet," Jaheira pointed out, watching the expression on Yoshimo's face with narrowed eyes.

For a while nobody said anything, tension palpable in the air, despite the smile still lingering on Yoshimo's lips. "Everybody is entitled to one mistake, my lady," he finally said, chuckling amiably to disperse the tension. "I am simply glad that mine did not have lethal consequences."

"I hope my one mistake will not be to trust you," Jaheira pointed out, keeping a piercing stare on Yoshimo, but it still failed to unnerve the rogue.

"I assure that I will do my utmost not to disappoint you," Yoshimo said, sounding sincere. "But now, I think you should be able to return to your interrupted rest, my lady," he added, glancing at the unconscious Lady Delcia at his feet. "I doubt you wish to accompany me on this gruesome little task."

"Your concern is appreciated, though I doubt I will be able to resume sleeping," Jaheira said, briefly looking around to see that there were still not even the slightest signs of the first light of the dawn.

"If I could make a suggestion, my lady," Yoshimo said smoothly, his eyes seemingly fixed on Jaheira's legs. "I know of several ancient Kara-Turan massage techniques that could-... but perhaps I should stop talking now," he said, feeling Jaheira's glare intensifying tenfold.

"That would be very wise," Jaheira agreed, turning around to walk back to the keep. "Now go, and take care of your task."

* * *

On the morning of the next day, Anomen sought out Leah in the keep's library, finding the priestess browsing through a book detailing collection of some local folk songs, smiling as he placed a tray of food and a mug of tea in front of the slightly startled Leah. "I did not see you at the breakfast table, my lady," he said gently. "I simply thought..."

"Oh, I did grab something from the kitchen earlier, but thank you, I really appreciate it. I was already getting hungry again," Leah smiled at him, watching the young man take a seat opposite to her.

"I must say, I actually missed not being awakened by your lovely morning prayer," Anomen said, blushing a little.

"You wouldn't have wanted to be awakened that early, Anomen," Leah kept smiling back at him. "Besides, as a fellow healer, I know that you are probably feeling very sore after all the blows you took for the good of the group yesterday. You needed the recovery."

"You are most considerate, my lady," Anomen replied, looking thankful and impressed by her kindness, hesitating a little before speaking up again. "You mentioned the name of Gorion yesterday. I understand that he was very much like a father to you. What was your relationship with him like?"

"He was... well, I always considered him to be my father in the best sense of the word, truly," Leah smiled serenely, her thoughts drifting back to what was actually relatively recent past, though right now it almost seemed like an entirely different lifetime, one where she did not have the blood of a dead god in her veins. "He was always there for me." _Even if you kept some horrible secrets from me... I know you did it to protect me, father. I will never hold it against you._

"I am glad that you had such a fond relationship with your father, though I admit also being rather jealous of you, my lady," Anomen said, something in his face changing as he spoke, making him appear bitter. "I did not have a good relationship with my father, Lord Cor. When he was not completely drunk, he would demand that I uphold the family honor, or simply told me what a worthless son I had become. He tried to discourage me from joining the Order and wanted me to help him in his mercantile business, but... I truly had no interest in that. Oh, how I would have wished for my father to be the supportive mentor I had dreamed of, but... instead, I endured his abuse until I was of the age to squire for the Order. Then, I fled as quickly as I could."

"I suppose I can understand that," Leah looked up to him sympathetically. "What about the rest of your family, though?"

"The only one left is my sister, Moira... I suppose I am telling you all this because you remind me of her a great deal," Anomen said, blushing a little as his eyes fell on Leah's face. "I miss her greatly... the only thing about my family that I miss."

"You left her with your abusive father?" Leah asked, a little surprised. "Will she be safe with him?"

"She is young and determined, and my father's ire was always reserved for me, so I do not think that she is in any kind of danger... even if I do regret abandoning her to such fate, alone with Lord Cor," Anomen admitted, looking ashamed. "But... there was little I could do. I am sure that she... never mind. Please, I do not wish to speak any further on this, Leah-" he suddenly looked about to cut her off abruptly, but then Nalia charged into the library, looking around anxiously, followed by a nervous looking Aerie and as always upbeat and proudly grinning Minsc.

"I cannot find Aunt Delcia!" Nalia announced, looking a little hysterical. "I have mobilized all the guards, and they have turned the keep upside down several times! They have combed every corner to find her, but with no result... my auntie has disappeared! I know the Roenall's are involved somehow, I just know!"

_They very well might be, just not in the way you think and hope for, Nalia, _Leah realized, Delcia's disappearance not particularly surprising to her. "Little Nalia speaks the truth," Minsc nodded excitedly. "Minsc tried to use Boo's sniffing nose to track down Nalia's aunt, but Boo's nose is not so good in sniffing out lost ladies! Though Boo did find secret food stores down in the pantry!"

"Yes, Daleson will have some explaining to do," Nalia said, looking annoyed.

"We could try to employ divination magic to locate your aunt," Aerie suggested. Then her face fell a little. "Although... I do not currently have such a spell memorized. What about you, Nalia?" The young human mage simply shook her head in reply to that.

"Perhaps she has left to meet the Roenall's with the intention to smoothen things over?" Leah then suggested something that she hoped Nalia would accept as plausible.

"That was my thought as well, but we checked her room and she had not packed and prepared for travel. It is clear that she has been abducted!" Nalia exclaimed, upset and agitated. "Not to mention that I have just received news from a messenger sent by Lord Farthington Roenall. He insists on an audience and is on his way to the keep. So Auntie Delcia could not be with the Roenall's!"

While Leah felt compelled to point out the logical flaws in Nalia's reasoning, she elected not to do so, rising from the table and pushing the barely touched tray of food away. "In that case," she said, smiling broadly. "I guess we should go and prepare a welcoming committee for the kind and considerate Lord Roenall..."

* * *

The audience with the arrogant and pompous Lord Farthington Roenall had gone pretty much according to the script that Leah had imagined. The haughty noble had ranted about how the d'Arnise keep was theirs by right, but Nalia, all credit to her, had not backed down, insisting that the old tradition regarding the guardian of the keep had to be respected. The head of the Roenall family had looked rather peeved when learning that Lady Delcia could not be found, further leading credence to Leah's conviction that Delcia had been conspiring with the wealthier family to get rid of her own brother and then marry off the niece to Farthington's repulsive looking son, Isaea.

Lord Farthington Roenall had spent a long time questioning Jaheira's worthiness to stand as Nalia's guardian, but the druidess had rebuked all of his arguments with her customary sharpness. Her elongated half-elven ears hidden by the helmet she wore, slanted, almond-shaped eyes made to look completely human-like by Nalia's creative use of makeup, all of these precautions made Lord Roenall certain that he was arguing with a human, not a half-elf. In the end, seeing that Nalia and Jaheira would not budge to his aggressive arguments, Lord Farthington Roenall had played the card that Leah had been hoping for, invoking a trial by combat with the fate of the keep at stake. Nalia and Jaheira had immediately agreed to these terms, and the whole procession had then moved to the keep's courtyard, one side of it filled by the guards of the d'Arnise Keep, Lord Roenall's entourage on the other side.

Lord Farthington was renowned in the circles of Amnish nobility as an expert swordsman, an opinion that was constantly repeated to him by all the trainers that he employed. Which also meant that while undoubtedly being quite skilled with the sword, he was also arrogant, overconfident and had not tested his skills in the field of battle, only against his many sparring partners. Jaheira had not received such extensive training with the scimitar, but her skills had been honed in countless daily battles against creatures and monsters of the very real kind. In Leah's mind, there was no question as to who truly held the edge in this contest, but still, as the two opponents stepped into the courtyard, the young priestess could not help but to feel very nervous for her old friend.

The duel started out cautiously, despite his bravado and arrogance Lord Roenall did not blindly charge in on the offensive and try to skewer the opponent with his bastard sword, first testing out Jaheira's defenses with some one-handed thrusts, looking a little surprised at how easily the agile druidess, clad in the powerfully enchanted chain mail they had found in the dungeons of Irenicus, dodged his attacks. Both opponents had agreed to forego the use of a shield, and while this allowed Lord Roenall to sometimes switch to two-handed use of his bastard sword, it was Jaheira who seemed to benefit more from the extra mobility.

The cautious, testing encounter continued for a good while, Jaheira unable to get close enough to test her scimitar against the weak points of Lord Roenall's plate armor, her opponent growing more and more frustrated with the reluctance of the druidess to engage in a tight melee scrap, always on the back foot and seeking to retreat as soon as Farthington began to push forward. As time went by, Lord Roenall's frustrations only increased. His attacks became more insistent and forceful, some had managed to nick Jaheira here and there, but not in any meaningful way. Still, it gave Farthington the confidence to continue his aggressive offense... until Jaheira allowed him to get a little closer, deflected the slash of his sword with her scimitar, and then threw a quick punch with her left hand, gauntleted fist smashing the arrogant noble's nose, breaking it and leaving his face bloodied.

Shouts and protests, accusing Jaheira of dishonorable conduct by throwing a cheap-shot, rang out from Isaea and the rest of the Roenall supporters, but they were quickly silenced by old Farthington himself, angrily waving his entourage to remain silent. He appeared well and truly enraged now, grabbing a two-handed hold of his bastard sword and coming at Jaheira with powerful overhead slashes that would have sliced the half-elf's head open, helmet or not. Still, this was just the kind of move that the druidess had been counting on, dodging and diving out of her opponent's way when Lord Roenall finally lost his balance after one particularly vicious strike.

That was all the opening that Jaheira needed, quickly recovering to unleash a precision strike with her scimitar, cutting deep into Farthington's leg, severing the tendons at the back of his knee. The arrogant lord struggled to get back to his feet, one of his legs no longer able to support his weight, and Jaheira quickly took advantage. A heavy blow with an elbow to Lord Roenall's temples nearly robbed him of his consciousness, making him woozy as he weakly slid to his knees. Without any hesitation, Jaheira pressed the tip of her scimitar into the rivet on the shoulder of his plate mail and then forced it downwards with tremendous force, the scimitar entering Farthington's body to the very pommel. Blood began to spurt from Lord Roenall's mouth and nose, the body falling forward limply and collapsing in the mud as soon as Jaheira withdrew the scimitar, blade dripping red with thick blood.

Even though Leah's first instinct was to cheer in celebration just like the rest of her group were doing, her cautious instincts made her hesitate and it proved a wise decision. She suddenly saw a man amongst the crowd of Roenall supporters withdrawing his long sword and charging at Jaheira, the druidess still standing over Farthington's corpse and oblivious as to what was going on behind her. "Jaheira!" Leah shouted, her heart clenching with anxiety. "Watch out!"

If the druidess had taken the moment to actually turn around and look at what was happening behind her, Isaea Roenall's powerful swing of the sword would have cleanly decapitated her. Fortunately, Jaheira knew better, the chemistry that they had developed fighting side by side through so many battles urging her to quickly roll aside and out of Isaea's way, the long sword slicing through air. She was up on her feet instantly, immediately being put on the defensive by Isaea's ferocious onslaught.

In the end, Isaea's undoing was the same as his father's. Having scored a few superficial nicks, the young Roenall was lured into believing that Jaheira was quickly tiring from the way that she constantly kept backing up. With all her experience, Jaheira managed to convince her opponent that she was weakening and in his arrogance Isaea happily believed her acting, probably also a part of him unable to truly accept that he could possibly be bested in combat by a woman. However, none of these slight, superficial nicks that Isaea scored or the territorial advantage he possessed, mattered. All it would take was the one strike that actually connected. Jaheira's movements in backpedalling seemed to become slower, but then as Isaea lounged forth with what he believed was the decisive strike, Jaheira's scimitar suddenly flashed through the air much faster than it should have been swung by his supposedly tiring opponent.

The courtyard was suddenly silenced by Isaea's cry of pain and dismay as he stared at the bloody stump of his sword arm, severed hand together with the sword clattering to the ground. "Help!" he yelled, turning towards the group of Roenall soldiers, trying to stop the spurting of the blood from his severed hand, pressing down on the stump. "I yield! I yield!" he whimpered pathetically. "Healer! Quickly!"

"On your knees," Jaheira spat, coming over to where Isaea whimpered in pain. Praying for his life, the young nobleman did as he was told, dropping on his knees and pleading for mercy. Jaheira simply ripped off his helmet, grabbed the dark mop of his hair and pulled his head backwards before pressing the blade of the scimitar to the man's gullet and then cutting his throat, almost casually.

"Hey!" the leader of the Roenall guard forces shouted in protest, looking enraged. "He had already surrendered, you honorless harlot!"

"He did not challenge me according to your own rules of conduct," Jaheira said simply, looking down at the two corpses, father and son. "I was under no obligation to accept his surrender."

Leah now stepped forth, taking Jaheira's side as she looked at the Roenall soldiers who still looked very hostile, some of them having already drawn swords. "So, what will it be?" she asked, staring down the leader of the soldiers. "Will you choose to fight for your dead lords and join them in death?"

Immediately, the angry muttering amongst the Roenall soldiers became slightly subdued and indecisive. "Well... when you put it like that..." the leader shrugged, looking back at his suddenly rather disinterested looking soldiers. "I suppose that would be rather pointless..."

"A wise choice," Leah nodded, pointing at the corpses on the ground. "Take these two and go. You have exactly one hour to get off the d'Arnise lands."

Wordlessly, the Roenall soldiers grabbed the corpses of their employers and dragged them away in a rather undignified manner, pulling them through the mud. Once they had left, someone on the battlements raised the drawbridge again and everyone inside the courtyard let out a deep breath of relief.

"Are we finally done with this nonsense?" Jaheira asked, sounding irritated, as Nalia came over to join her and Leah.

Nalia and Leah exchanged glances, Lady d'Arnise nodding gratefully. "Yes," the young priestess said with relief. "We are finally done here. Thank you, Jaheira."

"Forget it," the druidess said, turning around to walk away but not before throwing the bloodied scimitar away across the courtyard in disgust. "I have had just enough of this."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"So... what happens now?" Nalia d'Arnise asked, as Leah and her entire group had gathered downstairs in the central hall of the keep. Several hours had passed since the Roenall forces had retreated, dragging with them the corpses of their lords, effectively ending the conflict between the two families, the deaths of Lord Farthington Roenall and his son Isaea rendering all those forced agreements between them and Nalia's father null and void.

"What do you mean, Nalia?" Leah asked, looking at the young mage.

"Well... you have done me more favors than I could have reasonably expected of you," Nalia replied. "The Roenall's are no longer a threat, and you have also rid me of my... undesired engagement to Isaea. The truth is that I no longer require your services or your protection, but... you have done so much, so if there is any way that I could help you, just please do not hesitate to ask! But I'm afraid that I cannot offer any more coin, seeing as the repairs of the keep will be very costly."

"There is a way you can help, Nalia, yes," Leah nodded. "I've been thinking... perhaps you would allow us to use this keep as a headquarters of sorts, during our stay in Amn? It would be very convenient for us to have a base of operations as we plan our rescue of Imoen."

"Oh... but of course!" Nalia quickly agreed. "You can come and go as you wish, and I would be happy to accompany you on your travels should you have need of a mage! Well... after I have restored some semblance of order to the keep, that is..."

"I might very well take you up on that offer, Nalia," Leah smiled. "One more thing," she said, absentmindedly rubbing a sore spot in her lower back, the beds in Nalia's keep far softer than anything in her recent memory. "If you could find a way to secure horses for our use... that would be very much appreciated."

"Hmm... that might take some time... but I will see what I can do," Nalia nodded. "For now, you will simply have to do without horses, but I should have something for you within a tenday."

"I would like to have horses when we depart on our journeys to Trademeet or the Windspear Hills," Leah said. "But right now our path will lead back to Athkatla. I want to see about arranging some employment locally first, before you have secured those horses for us."

"Very well," Nalia said, looking pleased about being useful. "Then I will remain here and make sure you have everything you need by the time you return from Athkatla."

"Excellent," Leah smiled. "Aerie will remain here with you for the time being. She can help you in running the keep or help you in other ways. Also, make sure to compare your spellbooks. I'm certain you will find ways to broaden your array of spells."

"Did I fare poorly in battle, Leah?" Aerie asked, looking crestfallen. "I thought I did rather well..."

"Oh, you fared very well, Aerie, considering it was the first serious combat you saw," Leah smiled at the elf. "But I would rather not take you back to the city before I have secured that license from the Cowled Wizards. I don't want to run into any trouble with that group, since they are the ones keeping Imoen imprisoned."

"Ah... a-alright," Aerie nodded, looking more encouraged, then walking up to Nalia. "I'm sure I'll find ways to be useful around the keep! We will study magic together, Nalia... and we can keep looking for your aunt!"

"Of course, I have no intention of forgetting about Aunt Delcia," Nalia said with determination, Leah catching with the corner of her eye Jaheira letting out a sigh, the druidess rubbing her brow and looking a little annoyed. _I'm guessing she either knows or suspects of what has happened to Delcia, _Leah thought. _Ah, well. I'm guessing it's not an issue, anymore._

"Lady Nalia, are you truly certain about trusting the Flail of Ages in my possession?" Anomen asked, reverently holding the powerful weapon in his hands.

"I am most certain, Anomen," Nalia smiled broadly. "It will see much better use serving you in your noble quest than standing here disassembled, its parts merely gathering dust."

"I thank you for this honor, my lady," Anomen bowed deeply, looking moved.

"Alright... I guess that about wraps things up here," Leah finally said decisively, looking back at her group. "Let's get ready for the road, people! We're leaving within the hour!"

* * *

_"Life... is strength. This is not to be contested, it seems logical enough." _

That statement might have been true, however, the rest of Leah's nightmare felt less convincing. _Am I destined to be forgotten? _She thought, rubbing her aching head, running her hand through the damp strands of her hair, drenched in perspiration. _I don't think I will care whether I'm forgotten or not once I'm dead. Though of course... it is teasing me with immortality, isn't it? The taint, wearing the cruel face of my captor... so very convincing at times. _

_"You will do what you must, become what you must, or others will pay for your cowardice." _

_If only that made sense. _Leah sighed, slowly propelling herself up on her elbows. _I don't see how letting the taint take over would do anything but harm the others, those travelling with me, those I care about. Will it give me the extra strength that I need to rescue Imoen in time? Certainly... that is what it wants me to believe... but I've learned long time ago not to trust those insidious words that the taint whispers in my mind. _

Knowing that sleep would be hard to come by for the rest of the night, Leah cautiously pulled on the flap of her tent to see who was currently on the guard shift. Her eyes met with Yoshimo's alert stare, the Kara-Turan smiling at her. She released the flap of her tent to close it again, crawled out of her bedroll, got dressed and crawled out of the tent, ready to take over the watch from the Kozakuran rogue.

"You are up early," he commented as Leah sat down on her knees next to the small fireplace, reaching out with open palms to capture as much warmth as possible. "Almost by an hour." If she had made any noises in her sleep, cried or trashed during her nightmare, Yoshimo's appearance betrayed none of it, and she was glad for it.

"Couldn't sleep, so I can relieve you early," Leah shrugged. "I was supposed to take over from you anyway."

"That would be a very rude thing to do, my lady," Yoshimo smiled. "My honor would not allow me to abandon my post before the time of my watch has ended. You will simply have to endure my company for a while."

"It is not such a terrible thing to endure," Leah smiled up to him. Despite knowing Yoshimo only for a few days, he had a certain roguish charm about him that made it difficult to question his motives, even if Leah knew she could not trust the Kozakuran fully just yet.

"Perhaps this could give us an opportunity to talk," Yoshimo continued, eyeing her intently. "We are still relative strangers. I am sure that you would also like to know your companions better... as I would like to know more about the woman that I have chosen to follow."

"If you have questions, ask them," Leah said earnestly. "I will decide whether to answer them or not, but I will not hold your interest against you."

"I am curious how such a young lovely, proud and fair, would get herself dragged into adventuring," Yoshimo began, giving her a disarming smile. "It is a dangerous business, after all. Anyone of us could die at a moment's notice."

"Certainly not by choice, Yoshimo," Leah replied. "I do not think that I would have stayed in Candlekeep my entire life, but events forced me to abandon it sooner than I expected or was ready to."

"What happened?" Yoshimo asked.

"Assassins infiltrated Candlekeep, seeking to kill me," Leah explained. "My stepfather then tried to take me to a place where I would be in safety, but we were ambushed on the road. The man who had sent those assassins killed my stepfather and I barely managed to escape, left to wander the wilderness. The only choice before me was to take up the path that has led me here."

"Who was this man who sent assassins to kill you, and why did he seek your demise?" Yoshimo continued his questioning.

_How much do I tell to this relative stranger? _Leah paused, deep in thought. _Hmm, perhaps telling him the entire truth will force him to reveal his real motives for following me? Risky, but... what do I have to lose? If he was seeking my death, he would have had ample opportunities to kill me already. _

"His name was Sarevok," Leah said, watching Yoshimo's face intently, but his expression did not change in the slightest. "You have not heard of him?" Yoshimo shook his head. "He was a product of the Time of Troubles and carried the blood of a deity in his veins. Sarevok was a Bhaalspawn, son of the dead god of murder, and he sought for a way to harness and add to his divine power by murdering his siblings."

"Do you mean to say-"

"Yes," Leah nodded, noticing that for once Yoshimo was taken a little aback. Whether it was because he was genuinely shocked by the truth or by her willingness to admit it, she was not certain. "I, too, am a child of Bhaal."

"That is... most interesting," Yoshimo nodded, his eyes staring at her most intently. "I thank you for your trust in sharing this tale with me. If there are any questions you wish to ask of me, please, do not hesitate."

"Why are you still following us, Yoshimo?" Leah asked directly.

"You rescued me from that accursed dungeon," Yoshimo replied simply. "I would not have escaped from that deathtrap on my own. Helping you in return is the least I can do."

"What if I told you that your debt has been repaid and you are free to leave my company?" Leah continued, scrutinizing his expression and noticing some emotion creeping into the man's face, but it was faint and disappeared quickly. _Was it fear? Fear of what? _

"I would still prefer to follow your company, young lovely," Yoshimo quickly gathered his wits. "There is something compelling about you, Leah, something that makes me care about your fate and that of your Imoen. And if you do not believe that explanation... well, there is also profit in joining with such accomplished adventurers as your group."

"I suppose that makes sense," Leah admitted.

"Are there any other questions that you would like to ask of me, my friend?" Yoshimo asked in a friendly voice.

"No, unless there is something you wish to tell me," the young priestess shrugged.

"I cannot think of anything relevant," Yoshimo said.

"Then I will not prod," Leah smiled. "I have learned that everything that is truly important reveals itself sooner or later."

Yoshimo held her smile easily. "You are truly wise beyond your years, young lovely."

Just then, as a tense silence set in around the campsite, it was broken by a sudden cry from one of the tents, the sharp sound easing into a series of whimpers together with a string of hastily spoken and incoherent words. The sounds were coming from Jaheira's tent, and having caught Khalid's name amongst the stream of words, Leah immediately looked up at the sympathetic appearing Yoshimo. "I will see to her," she said quickly. "It would be best if you were in your tent and sleeping while I do so."

"Yes... yes, I believe that would be for the best," Yoshimo nodded swiftly, understanding the delicate situation and quickly retreating to at least pretend to be asleep not to cause the druidess additional embarrassment.

"No... Khalid! ...no... I..." Jaheira was thrashing restlessly in the sheets as Leah crawled into her tent, the flame of the fireplace illuminating the half-elf's face, covered with beads of perspiration running down her brow. Leah gently reached out and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, giving a firm, steady shake. Jaheira's hand immediately grabbed hers and squeezed down hard, making the young priestess wince in discomfort. "What... what's going on?" the druidess ground out, still struggling to understand what was happening.

"Another nightmare," Leah said softly, waiting for Jaheira to calm down and gather her thoughts, and she slowly did so, her body eventually relaxing and losing some of that steely tension. "Tell me about it," Leah insisted.

"This one... was not quite as cruel as the previous ones. Maybe... maybe I am slowly coming to terms with it," Jaheira spoke, licking her parched lips, gratefully accepting the canteen of water that Leah passed on to her. "I saw Khalid walking in the distance, but he would not come closer, and I saw no way of reaching him. He walked together with us, from a distance, smiling that I was content. And... I guess I was."

"Perhaps he was simply happy to see that you could continue with your life, your work... travelling with the group and offering your guidance," Leah suggested.

"That makes a great deal of sense, but I did not see the whole group, there were just you and I," Jaheira replied. "But that is understandable as well, you have... tried to do much for me, as of late."

"It does not feel like much, honestly," Leah shrugged.

"Yes, but I had expected to deal with this on my own, so it does feel like a great deal," Jaheira replied, gathering a spare piece of cloth and wiping her face from the perspiration. "Nevertheless, it is appreciated."

"I don't even understand why you wanted to deal with it all by yourself," Leah shook her head disapprovingly. "What I mean to say is that... you and Khalid were married for many years... you are more used to having someone to confide in."

"Don't you dare to compare yourself to Khalid," Jaheira snarled, suddenly looking angry, making Leah back off a little. "Just because I was able to share everything with him, it does not extend you with the same courtesy. Not even close."

"Charming, but I'm not trying to take Khalid's place," Leah did not relent, then blushing as she realized that her words could have been embarrassingly misinterpreted. "I mean... I'm trying to be your confidante, and nothing else. If not me, who then? Yoshimo? Minsc and Boo? Why is it so damn difficult for you to accept my offer for help? I thought we had an agreement in place..."

"That agreement does not give you the right to judge me or tell me what to do. It allows you to listen when I want to unburden myself... which, I assure you, will not happen often," Jaheira said, her tone having lost some of its previous edge.

"We shall see about that," Leah said, a challenging smile appearing on her lips. "You know, I can be as stubborn as you at times. So once I decide that you do need to unburden yourself, I am going to pester you until you do that. Or... I guess you could always shape shift into a black bear and maul me to death. In which case I solemnly promise to come back as an annoying specter and pester you even more."

Jaheira looked up at the young priestess as if she wanted to snap back in irritation, but Leah's words together with her disarming smile quickly robbed her of those intentions. Instead, she simply barked out a harsh laughter, shaking her head in a disbelief. "We are a fine pair, you and I, are we not?" she finally chuckled. "Very well, have it your way. But you better do not call me stubborn ever again. I do not understand from where the others get this false impression, but I will not see such slander continuing."

"Yes, Jaheira, of course, Jaheira," Leah bowed her head, barely holding back her laughter. "As you say, you are not stubborn at all..."

* * *

The rest of the travel back to Athkatla was largely uneventful, except for an incident at the side of the road when they were already able to see the gates of the capital of Amn. Four thugs were mercilessly beating a single man, and would have probably finished him off for good, if not for interference of Leah and her group. The thugs unwisely decided to put up a fight, which had resulted in Yoshimo collecting valuables from their still twitching corpses. As for the victim, the man had been largely incoherent, leading to Anomen crudely dismissing him as a drunk undeserving of their charity, but Leah had not missed the look the delirious man had exchanged with Jaheira, also noticing how he had tried to inconspicuously flash a brooch shaped like a little silver crescent to the druidess, holding it in his tightly clenched fist.

Before Jaheira had managed to insist upon helping the man, Renfeld as he had groggily introduced himself, Leah was already ordering Minsc to pick him up and carry to whatever location the man would provide for them, apparently some building in the Docks District. Now, Minsc walked at the head of the group, carrying the limp and helpless Harper agent who had claimed that he was poisoned by some means that were irreversible by the curative spells in their possession. In any case, Minsc seemed completely unhindered by his added burden, and Jaheira hovered nearby, making sure that her fellow Harper agent survived the journey to the docks. This left Leah walking some way behind them, next to Anomen, Yoshimo appearing here and there, and generally being roguish and illusive.

Several times, Anomen seemed to take a deep breath as if he was about to start speaking, but only on the fourth or fifth attempt he finally managed to get the words off his tongue. "My lady, I... wish to apologize for ending our conversation so abruptly, yesterday. I hope I did not offend," he said quietly.

"As I recall, we were interrupted by Nalia and the others," Leah shrugged. "In any case, there was no offense taken."

"I am glad to hear it," Anomen nodded, looking relieved. "It simply reminded me of my sister, stuck alone in the manor with my father. She wrote to me recently, and from the letter it seemed as if she was bearing up well, but knowing Moira, she might have merely tried to ease my guilt. The situation cannot be easy on her, and I wish that eventually I might be able to find a way for her to leave and go someplace where she would be happy."

"If she would even agree to leave," Leah smiled sadly. "There are many children who feel indebted to their parents so much that they could not even fathom to abandon them, even if they are being treated appallingly poorly."

"Yes... that is my fear as well. Moira insists on staying and taking care of Lord Cor even through his drunken worst," Anomen said, shaking his head ruefully. "She can be very stubborn and sometimes refuses to see what would be best for her."

"Is that why I remind you of her?" Leah grinned, winking at the young squire.

"I... well, not only because of that," Anomen blushed, trying to gallantly recover. "But since our mother died, I think Moira can hardly imagine doing anything else. I hope that the old bastard does not treat her too harshly," his fists clenched as he spoke, before he took a deep breath and relaxed. "What about you, my lady, if I may ask? You have told me of your stepfather and of this girl Imoen who was like a sister to you. Am I to understand that you have no blood relatives at all?"

Leah hesitated a little before answering, wondering if Anomen had perhaps overheard her discussion with Yoshimo last night, or maybe Minsc would have let something escape his mouth, giving away the secrets of her true ancestry. "Why do you ask, Anomen?" she spoke, turning her head to give the squire a scrutinizing stare.

"I was... merely curious," Anomen tried, but then quickly realized that he was a very poor liar. "Very well, my lady, I shall be honest with you. My sleep is usually heavy, but I was awakened last night by some noises. I did not wish to overhear, and I tried not to, yet I could not help hearing some of the words you exchanged with that Easterner scoundrel."

"His name is Yoshimo," Leah said, a little sternly. "And yes... everything I told him about my ancestry is true. I am a daughter of Bhaal, god of murder. If you feel that travelling with a Bhaalspawn could ruin your hopes of being accepted by the Order, then... I would regret you taking leave of my company, but I would understand."

"I was not considering abandoning you, my lady," Anomen looked bewildered at the mere possibility of doing so. "You have acted honorably and have been proven to be a force of righteousness so far, and as long as you stay on this road, you will have my full support and I will remain at your side and help you walk this path of light. The Order would surely see it and judge the same way if they knew of your deeds."

"I am pleased to hear that you have such high opinion of me," Leah replied with a smile.

"There is one more thing I wanted to ask of you, though, my lady," Anomen said, a little hesitantly. "If I had not overheard the discussion with... Yoshimo. When would have you revealed the truth to me?"

"I... don't really have an answer to that, Anomen. I'm sorry," Leah shrugged. "It would have likely been soon. I feel as if I can trust you. But I was a little worried that the truth of my ancestry becoming a public knowledge could have damaged your relationship with the Order. I must confess... because of that, I had considered keeping the truth hidden from you as long as I could."

"I appreciate your honesty... but I am still glad that we were able to speak of this," Anomen said, boldly taking her hand and squeezing it lightly. "I believe that things will only turn to the better if we are honest with each other. Do you not agree with that, my lady?"

"I..." Leah said, blushing a little, having not expected the gesture of Anomen taking her hand in his. "Yes... I do agree with that..."

* * *

Less than an hour later, they had managed to traverse the labyrinthine streets of Athkatla to arrive at the Docks District. Minsc was about to follow Renfeld's directions and head to the location provided, when Yoshimo suddenly appeared by Leah's side and spoke up in a warning tone of voice. "Leah... perhaps this is a good time to tell you of something" he said quietly, hoping that the rest of the group would not overhear. "Seeing as we are entering the Docks, which are the Shadow Thief territory."

"What about it?" Leah asked, rubbing her brow thoughtfully. Yoshimo had not displayed any tension or worries during their conversation with Gaelan Bayle.

"Well, the last time they caught me operating in the city, they told me to report to the head of the guild in the Docks, Renal Bloodscalp, or suffer the consequences. I have been able to learn that Renal needs the aid of an outsider in dealing with a certain problem, and my service in solving this problem could be traded for my punishment. If I fail to report to him... things might get a little messy."

"And you sought to mention this only now?" Leah raised her voice, placing her hands on her hips as she glared at the bounty hunter. "Yoshimo, the operation to rescue Imoen hinges on my relationship with the Shadow Thieves! I cannot harbor someone who is on their bad side!"

"Now, now, things are not as bad as they seem, young lovely," Yoshimo raised his hands to placate her. "In fact, this could actually be a an opportunity to do a favor for Renal and earn some goodwill with the Shadow Thieves! Not to mention that it would avoid personal complications for me later on..."

"Damnation... you better be right about this, Yoshimo, or I will be in the market for a new rogue," Leah warned, feeling rather irritated about the way the Kara-Turan had so transparently dumped his personal issues into her lap.

"I am most assuredly right about this, Leah, you will see and agree as soon as we meet with Renal," Yoshimo said, managing to look both confident and a little apologetic as well.

"Well... fine," Leah sighed in defeat. "Let's get this Renfeld lad to safety first. Then we'll go and see your fearsome Shadow Thief guild leader..."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 **

Before going to see Renal Bloodscalp at Yoshimo's sincere behest, Leah and her companions first made a detour to deliver the poisoned Harper agent, Renfeld, to the location he had specified before starting to gradually pass out from the slowly working toxin inside his bloodstream, as well as the physical exertion. Considering the man's state, Leah didn't think it would have been a wise idea to drag him through the Shadow Thief guildhall before delivering him to his Harper friends.

Once they had arrived at the _secret_ Harper base in the Docks, Leah had felt her eyebrows rise a little at the opulent and gaudy orange colored mansion that was sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the other more rundown and ramshackle buildings of the Docks. A quick glance at Jaheira revealed that the druidess was equally surprised, this kind of base feeling rather at odds with the Harper methods of operation. Nevertheless, the guard at the entrance had quickly taken Renfeld inside, then returning to reward Leah with a satchel of gold coins for their noble assistance. The guard introduced himself as Rylock, but never did reveal his affiliation to the Harpers, not even to Jaheira, and Leah was making sure to watch them both, finally concluding that they had not previously met. Of course, Leah realized that her and Jaheira's involvement would come to light in case of Renfeld's successful recovery, but she hoped that the assistance she had provided would only help her relationships with the Harpers, considering the influence of the sometimes unpredictable and mysterious organization.

However, things had become more interesting when the group of five were already back on their way to the Shadow Thief guildhouse. Along the way, they were stopped by none other than the mad Zhentarim wizard Xzar, ranting at them incoherently until Leah was finally able to comprehend his request to infiltrate the gaudy Harper base and rescue his friend, the nasty little halfling thief Montaron who had been spying on the sworn enemies of the Zhentarim. Aiding a Zhentarim agent and going against the Harper organization seemed like the worst possible career move that Leah could think of, even if Xzar promised untold riches in reward for Montaron's safe return.

That was when Xzar had dropped the name of Irenicus, immediately complicating the entire circumstance. The mad wizard claimed to have information on Irenicus, such as his location, suddenly making it very difficult for Leah to turn down his request for help. Something stirred deep within her soul, urging the young priestess to wrap her hands around Xzar's throat and simply wring the information out of him, but somehow, something made her stop at the last moment. She was about to agree to Xzar's terms, when Jaheira pulled her aside before she could utter the words, the druidess shooting her a warning glare.

"Be careful, Leah. I will understand why you would choose to ally with a Zhentarim agent for Imoen's sake, but the other Harpers will not," Jaheira said quietly. "I... might not be able to shield you from their enmity, which these actions will undoubtedly bring upon our heads."

"I said that I would do anything for Imoen's sake, and I meant it," Leah spoke sternly, staring straight ahead and avoiding Jaheira's eyes.

"This is too much of a risk, Leah, and you know it," Jaheira scowled. "Have you considered that the fool does not even have the information that he claims to possess? Or that learning of the location of this Irenicus might not bring us closer to Imoen? What if we will still lack the means of transportation to get to him? What if the Cowled Wizards imprison these deviants on another plane? This reward of information could be useless!"

"It is common knowledge that the Cowled Wizards do not hold these prisoners in Athkatla," Yoshimo subtly poked his way into the conversation. "Your druid companion raises an excellent point, Leah."

"I understand what you're both saying, but as long as there is a chance, no matter how slight, I must take it," Leah repeated stubbornly.

"Leah... if the Harpers learn that I have aided the Zhentarim in something like this, it could brand me as a traitor of the Harpers," Jaheira warned again.

"Then feel free to sit this one out," Leah shrugged, looking at her friend.

"It doesn't work like that and you know it," Jaheira hissed, becoming irritated. "You are my charge, and the Harpers know it. We only just delivered Renfeld to them together! Your actions will implicate me as well, even if I am not there... and do you know what happens to traitors of the Harpers?" Leah shook her head stiffly. "They will send one agent after another until someone succeeds in killing me. Not a single traitor has escaped their sealed fate in the long history of the organization."

"So, the chance to save Imoen comes with the price tag of your life?" Leah sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Fine. You win." She turned towards the Zhentarim mage again. "Xzar, the deal is off. Let's move on, people," the young Sorlyn added, turning around and starting to climb the steps leading up from the lower level of the docks and the piers to the upper levels where the Shadow Thief guildhouse sprawled and occupied a large part of the district.

"I am... sorry," Jaheira spoke quietly, catching up with her. "Normally, my affiliation should not be a hindrance, but..."

"Think nothing of it," Leah shrugged, trying to put the whole conversation out of her mind. "Luckily, Xzar isn't our only link to Imoen... if that was so, my decision might have been different. I would still like to know how Xzar knew about Irenicus, even if the name was all that he was truly aware of."

"He was a wizard and a Zhentarim agent," Yoshimo inserted, effortlessly slipping in to walk on the other side of Leah. "No doubt that he had connections within the Cowled Wizards, or else his kind would not be able to walk the streets openly, not even in the Docks. It is possible that he learned the name of Irenicus from his contact within the Cowled ones."

"That makes sense," Leah conceded with a sigh. "So, there's actually a good chance that he wasn't lying. But... it doesn't devaluate the points you made, Jaheira," she added hastily, noticing the guilty, downcast expression on the half-elf's face.

"Meanwhile, we have arrived," Yoshimo said, drawing their attention to the fact that they had arrived at the main entrance into the Shadow Thief guildhouse. The structure it was housed in was a peculiar one. It seemed to have once consisted from several adjacent buildings, over time fusing into one sprawling and rather ugly establishment, reminding Leah very distinctly of the thieves' guildhouse back in Baldur's Gate. She only hoped that this Renal Bloodscalp would be a more pleasant person to deal with than Alatos Ravenscar, who had sold her out to his Halruaan mage accomplice without a moment's thought.

"Is it alright for you to join us inside this Shadow Thief hive?" Leah asked, turning back to face Anomen. "We don't have to worry about some Order spy following us around and reporting on your morally questionable missteps?" she added with a cheeky smile.

"No, it is not quite that bad, my lady," Anomen replied with a smile of his own, making Leah feel relieved that he could at least take _some_ teasing with good humor. "I think I should be fine, as long as nobody does anything to force me into defending your honor, in which case I will have to follow the Order's chivalrous code of conduct."

"Yes, let's hope that the Shadow Thief leader is not of the lewd and overtly flirtatious type," Leah chuckled, the guard opening the doors for them as they approached, winking at her as if they were old acquaintances, when Leah had never even seen the man before.

Inside, the guildhall at first appeared to be very chaotically organized, thieves of every race, age and gender milling around the ground floor of the base, consisting of shelves full of contraband and stacks of barrels and boxes. A pretty half-elven lass had even set out some of the stolen merchandize on several tables in front of her, acting as a merchant, which implied that this floor of the guildhouse was accessible to a wider public than just Shadow Thief guild members. Before Leah had a chance to ask for directions, Yoshimo was already pointing at a set of stairs at the back of the cluttered main hall and without wasting more time they quickly proceeded to the second floor. Even if nobody asked them any questions or did not appear to be watching them, Leah knew they had to be under constant surveillance. Renal obviously knew that they were coming, the winking guard at the doors had been the first clue to give it away.

Renal Bloodscalp, himself a man in late forties, met them while surrounded by a group of more intense and business-like looking thugs, and Leah was reasonably certain that even more of his thieves were watching them, ready to spring into action at the first sight of trouble, not that Leah or anyone in her company intended to provoke the Shadow Thieves into hostilities. While Renal did not appear particularly physically imposing, there was something about his lean, scarred frame suggesting that while many had tried to depose him, none had ever succeeded from stopping him in rising high amongst the ranks of the Shadow Thieves and that alone was reason enough to play nice with this influential individual.

"My, my, if it isn't the freelancer, Yoshimo, come to see me at last," Renal laughed amiably, seeing them approach. "I had nearly thought that the streets had opened up and swallowed you whole, dear lad. Sometimes that tends to happen to ragtag independents infringing on our territory... I'm sure you've heard the stories, Yoshi."

"Yoshimo, if you please, sire," the Kara-Turan replied politely. "Where I come from, such a pet name is only used by... well, let us say that you and I have not become so familiar just yet, hmm?" _By Milil, I nearly called him Yoshi several times already, _Leah groaned mentally, making a note not to use that pet name. _He probably wouldn't have corrected me either, unlike with Renal... _

"Point taken," Renal nodded. "So, have you finally come to pay the debt for your recent activities, or are we simply to trade barbs until I am forced to do something hideous? But wait..." Bloodscalp's eyes left Yoshimo and turned to examine Leah in turn, the young priestess trying to maintain her calm and neutral demeanor under the old thief's scrutinizing gaze. "I thought I had a task for you, Yoshimo, but it seems that you have done something better already. Your traveling companion is of interest to me, and you have delivered her before me. Many thanks."

"As long as my companion is not brought into danger because of my debt," Yoshimo said, sounding a little uncomfortable. "It would reflect very poorly upon my honor."

"Considering that your companion is actively seeking the aid of the Shadow Thieves in another endeavor, I do not think that hostile confrontation is in the best interests of either party," Renal chuckled, turning back to Leah. "You'll have to excuse me for not recognizing you immediately. Some of the descriptions don't do you justice. I was expecting someone of more physically intimidating stature."

"Many have made that fatal mistake in underestimating me," Leah shrugged, maintaining her impassive countenance. "I'm sure that you have benefitted from the same throughout your career."

"Wisely deduced," Renal nodded, flashing a gap-toothed smile. "So, Leah, what would you say to an opportunity to both earn a greater goodwill from the Shadow Thieves as well as smoothing out the differences between the good Yoshimo and our organization?"

"I'm interested, but like they say, the devil is in the details," Leah said, crossing her arms on her chest, giving Renal her best piercing stare, but it only seemed to make the smile on the thief's lips broaden.

"Yes, the details!" he nodded, his expression then immediately becoming cold and businesslike. "How shall I put this? One of my guildhouses to the south is run by a rather ambitious fellow named Mae'Var. Good thief, but I never liked him. Now I know why. I've had some hints that he is getting too big for himself. Thinking of taking my place, I suspect, but I've had no real evidence to say that this is so. Now, you're probably thinking, why not just eliminate him? Yes, yes, I suppose I could do that."

"Murdering your underlings without proof would send the wrong kind of message throughout the organization," Leah said thoughtfully. "You would soon have a rebellion on your hands."

"Especially with that guild war that some recent rumors speak of, my lady," Anomen leaned closer to whisper in her ear. "That other guild must be posing a very serious threat to these scoundrels for them to be so desperate to turn to outsiders like us."

"Regardless of all that..." Renal said impatiently, unwilling to acknowledge even the slightest hint that the Shadow Thieves were in danger of losing some of their turf. "We have come to your part in all this. I would like you to go to Mae'Var and join his guild. I will give you the papers saying that you are being transferred by the Shadow Master. You will spy on Mae'Var from the inside and find me the evidence that I need."

"I do not see why you need a large group to infiltrate the guild of this Mae'Var," Leah shrugged. "This would be a task perfectly suited to Yoshimo alone. In fact..." her eyes fell on Minsc, smiling broadly as he absentmindedly stroked Boo's fur, and then onto Anomen, his shining and well polished armor standing out like a glowing beacon amidst the thief guildhouse. "I do not think that some of my friends are well suited for a covert mission of this sort."

"The truth is that I do not care how you accomplish this task, Leah," Renal said, a little distractedly. "You may wish to assign Yoshimo to take care of his own mess single handedly, and that is fine by me. Or you may choose to assist him. I care little, as long as I see results on the table."

Ignoring the worried stare that Yoshimo was sending in her direction, Leah continued to press on with her own questions. "You spoke of a mutually beneficial arrangement," the priestess of Milil spoke sternly. "So far I have only heard of how this all will benefit you. What do we get out of this deal?"

"The arrangement that you have struck with Gaelan Bayle," Renal said simply. Leah raised an eyebrow, waiting on him to continue. "I am aware that twenty thousand gold is not a small sum. Fulfill this task for me, and I will speak with the Shadow Master about knocking several thousand gold off that target."

"Ten thousand gold," Leah said boldly, knowing that Renal would never agree to reduce the cost so drastically.

"You jest, dear girl," Renal smiled at her. "Three thousand is the most I can promise you."

"Five?" Leah tried one more time, Yoshimo making a warning gesture to her and whispering something about never haggling with a man like Renal.

"Listen to Yoshimo. I do not hail from Amn originally, and do not view haggling as an art," Renal said simply. "In fact, it is the best way to insult me. I will let this slide because you are... so very easy on the eye, girl," he added with a wink. "Three thousand gold, and I will add some magical baubles from my own collection. This will have to satisfy, or else... your overall relationship with the Shadow Thieves will become unnecessarily sour."

"Very well, we agree," Leah finally nodded after a moment of silence, Renal rubbing his hands and looking pleased. Several minutes later, Leah and her companions found themselves standing back outside the guildhouse, Leah holding the papers that she was meant to present to Gorch, storekeep at the guildhouse of Mae'Var.

"Boo says we are going to play thieves now?" Minsc asked, looking disturbingly excited about the prospect, shaking Leah back to the harsh reality.

"Err... not right now, Minsc," she said, patting the large ranger on the arm. Then she pressed the papers in the hands of the unpleasantly surprised looking Yoshimo. "No, I don't intend to just leave you alone on this, Yoshimo," she said, smiling at the worried rogue. "But with the way we currently appear... only you could pass for someone that the Shadow Master himself would have transferred to serve Mae'Var. I suppose Jaheira and I could manage to look like half-convincing rogues with some work, but not as we are right now."

"Minsc knows how to be stealthy!" the ranger protested, looking disappointed.

"Yes, Minsc, in the forest or a swamp, but not inside a guildhouse," Leah replied with sympathetic smile. "Still, this is no reason to waste time, which is why I want you to go to Mae'Var's guildhouse immediately and get started, Yoshimo. Dig up as much information as you can, and perhaps you can think of a convincing way to get the rest of us inside the guildhouse. Or alternatively, Jaheira and I will dress up as stealthy rogues and join you later."

"Hmm, very well... I can lay down some ground work, as you wish it, Leah," Yoshimo finally acceded, agreeing with Leah's reasoning. "And what will you be doing in the meantime?"

"Visit to the Council of Six building," Leah replied, turning around to leave. "Time to sort out that magical license... or at least find out what kind of exorbitant bribe those Cowled Wizards are asking for..."

* * *

Following a rather unpleasant conversation with a Cowled Wizard representative named Corneil, Leah found herself standing in a discreet corner inside the Council of Six building and stuffing the parchment that apparently served as a license to allow arcane spellcasting within the city limits, into her now considerably lighter coin purse. "Ugh, I can't believe it took five thousand gold to acquire this," she cursed, feeling genuinely irritated. "That was all the reward from Nalia and then some. At least the license isn't made for a specific person, just one wizard traveling in my company... because I'm still not sure whether we'll be relying on Nalia or Aerie more..."

"How much have these expenses set us back, my lady?" Anomen inquired politely.

"Well... we're back down to less than hundred gold," Leah sighed. "Barely enough to cover the cost of accommodations we will need for tonight."

"Boo is prepared to make a sacrifice and pass on the double helping of nuts and berries for the good of the group, little Leah," Minsc offered kindly.

"Tell Boo that his noble sacrifice will not be forgotten, Minsc," Leah shook her head, then letting out a laugh, the jovial expression on the large ranger's face never failing to cheer her up. "I guess with the license business out of the way, we can be off again... Jaheira?" she turned to her friend, listening in on some conversation with a disgusted expression on her face.

"Do not mind me," the druidess looked back at her. "Simply overhearing the chatter between some clerks. They are rushing to see a public burning of some hapless drow. Pathetic."

"Sounds rather sickening... is this kind of thing legal here in Amn?" Leah turned towards Anomen.

"I am sure that her guilt is proven beyond doubt, my lady," the squire replied, not looking utterly convinced. "However, without knowing all the details..."

"I see... well, from everything I've seen so far here in this Council of Six building, I'm not sure that your much valued sense of justice and righteousness is appropriately honored and served within these walls," Leah said, looking around the halls, her stare lingering at the figures of Magistrate Bylanna Lanulin and Chief Inspector Brega in particular, her inquiries about Imoen's fate to them both hitting a dead end, both officials candidly admitting that the Cowled Wizards openly stonewalled them on every matter that involved magic. "I hope you don't mind if we go and see what is happening with that drow by ourselves."

"Of course not, my lady," Anomen replied proudly. "If justice is not served, it is our duty to interfere, as Helm would want it."

Leah simply nodded to that, before leading her group out of the government building and across the little park to where she could already see a large crowd forming in front of the Athkatla Prison. The short walk gave her a brief moment to reflect on a couple more job opportunities that had dropped into her lap during the visit to the Government District. First, she had been invited to talk with a Cowled Wizard named Tolgerias, a very haughty and arrogant mage, even for one of the Cowlies. Tolgerias had requested her aid in tracking down a renowned hater of mages, some nobleman named Valygar Corthala. Apparently, this man had slaughtered two of the Cowled Wizards already, so Tolgerias was naturally incensed and offered them a great amount of coins as well as magical items for their assistance.

Of course, Leah had immediately jumped on the chance to pester this Tolgerias fellow with questions about Imoen, asking the Cowled Wizard to expedite her friend's release instead of a monetary reward, but the mage had not wanted to listen to any of her demands, growing increasingly angrier until Leah had to settle for a promise that Tolgerias would look into the matter and see what he could do for Imoen's sake. The task itself, however, was a little puzzling for Leah, and since the Cowled Wizards seemed like the kind of organization that was difficult to place trust in, she resolved to be particularly careful while working on this case. It was not quite clear why the Cowled Wizards would not track this murderer down themselves, considering that they certainly had the manpower, as well as help of powerful divination tools. Also, Tolgerias' mention that he required Valygar's body, dead or alive, was more than a little strange and made Leah wonder whether the Cowled mage was a necromancer who planned to raise Valygar as a ghoul as a sadistic form of punishment for killing his mage fellows.

Tolgerias had suggested to check out Valygar's house at the docks, as well as his land property near the Umar Hills, and this coincided with the other task that Leah had stumbled across, a messenger from the town of Imnesvale in those same Umar Hills coming to seek aid with a string of mysterious murder cases that had sent the inhabitants of the countryside into a state of panic, prompting the mayor of the small community to turn to traveling adventurers for aid with the problems plaguing his town. The messenger, a young lad named Delon, begged them to travel to Imnesvale at the first opportunity and to speak with Minister Lloyd, the mayor of the town. Leah made a promise to do so, adding yet another mission to their encouragingly growing list of tasks, which hopefully also meant increasing income into the Imoen rescue fund.

By now, they had reached the thick crowd of people eagerly waiting for the drow to be burned on the stake, listening to a pair of fanatics ranting at the crowd about the inherent evil of the drow and about invoking the will of Beshaba that would apparently be pleased to see this drow suffer a most horrific death. The crowd seemed as if they didn't particularly care about the concerns of faith, but simply wanted to see the spectacle and listen to the screams of pain from the captured victim's mouth.

"Ah yes, there is the drow, my lady," Anomen spoke. Being slightly taller, he had spotted the tied up dark elf first, Leah's eyes widening in surprise as she now also could get a clear look at the captured woman, recognizing her instantly. "I had not thought the drow could be so... striking. A beautiful creature, this, if devoid of compassion as I hear," he added, making Leah glare at him instantly.

"She is not a _creature_, Anomen," she snapped angrily. "Her name is Viconia de Vir, and she is an old friend of mine." Anomen looked completely dumbstruck at that. "And by Milil, I'm not going to stand here and watch her get burned by these Beshaban fanatics! Wait here," Leah said harshly, starting to press through the crowd, Anomen seemingly frozen with hesitation while Jaheira and Minsc swiftly moved to follow Leah, not letting the girl out of their sights.

There seemed to be only two of the Beshaban faithful, running the entire show and still ranting and riling up the crowd, however, they were watched over by four of the guards from the nearby prison. Leah avoided the Beshabans for now and headed straight for the best armored of the men, assuming them for the leader of the guards, summoning a friendly smile when the burly man fixed her with a questioning stare, his hand first going for the hilt of his sword, then relaxing when he noticed that he was being approached by an attractive young woman. "Just trying to get a better place from which to watch the show," Leah offered, continuing to smile, watching how the guard relaxed instantly. "Enjoying it as well?" she asked.

"Not at all. I think everyone who comes to watch these executions is... a little sick, if you would pardon me, lass," the guard said, surprising Leah slightly. "But these Beshabans pay well, and the job of the guard doesn't really fill the coin purse as well as a man needs, if you get my meaning," he winked at the young priestess. "Besides, we are not wasting the time of the courts. Everybody wins."

"So, you just sell some prisoners to the Beshabans from time to time to fill your pockets?" Leah asked, trying to keep the rising anger from her voice as the guard nodded simply. "And this drow, has she actually... done something illegal?"

"Not that I know of," the guard shrugged. "She was detained on the suspicion of being a drow. Since nobody knows her and she is a complete stranger to the city, she was my first choice to sell to these bastards."

"I see..." Leah muttered, watching with increasing worry as the Beshabans were starting to get ready to set fire to the stake. "Tell me, you have already received your coins from them, have you not?" The guard nodded at her again. "I don't suppose I could convince you to... I don't know, perhaps head back inside the prison and forget about guarding these idiots?"

"Much as I'd love that... what would be our incentive?" the guard commander asked. "I presume you harbor violence towards them, but as despicable as they are, they provide extra income for us. What could you possibly offer to make us turn a blind eye?"

"Well... I can't bribe you, I'm afraid," Leah admitted ruefully, then grinning and winking coquettishly at the guard. "But... there might be alternative ways for me to show you my gratitude..."

The guard definitely looked very interested, even if he still appeared reluctant. "Oh, I don't know, girl, you're very easy on the eye for sure, but..."

"That drow about to be burnt on the stake... she's actually my friend. Her name is Viconia," Leah pressed home the advantage, continuing to smile seductively. "If you allow us to free her, I'm sure that she would also join me in showing you that certain kind of gratitude... and you know what they say about the drow and their knowledge of those particular arts..."

"Hmm... alright, but you better not be playing any tricks with me, because if you are, we will find you and you'll both end up on the stake, you get it?" the guard asked, clearly excited about the prospect of female companionship.

"Of course I understand... and I assure you, there are no tricks," the young priestess smiled broadly. "Stop by the Copper Coronet this evening and ask around for Leah. I will be waiting for you together with my friend, I promise."

"Well... alright," the guard leader finally nodded, turning around and ushering his slightly surprised fellows back inside the prison building, leaving the Beshabans, now working to properly set fire to the stake, without their honor guard.

"Minsc!" Leah ordered, having noticed that her friends had caught up with her by now. She pointed at the two frantically working fanatics. "Take them out, now!"

"Minsc and Boo will happily apply righteous head banging of justice to the villains who would hurt little Viconia," the ranger bellowed excitedly, picking up the two struggling fanatics by their collars and then crashing their heads together, sending them both tumbling on the ground unconscious, the crowd gasping, some already turning to run away in fear.

"Jaheira?" Leah turned to ask, then noticing that the druidess was already cutting the ropes that held Viconia tied to the stake.

"Already on it," the half-elf snapped her reply, cutting the final rope, as Viconia gracefully jumped off from the stake and approached her savior, looking grateful as she embraced Leah.

"My thanks for your timely intervention, _abbil_," she said, clearly pleased to see her old comrade with whom they had traveled all across the Sword Coast. "These _rivvin_ are mad, they were about to burn me alive simply for being a drow!"

"Well, we're going to give them a taste of their own medicine," Leah said sternly, earning an approving look from Viconia, and a slightly shocked one from Anomen as soon as she uttered her next words. "Minsc, tie them both to the stake in Viconia's place. The crowd came here to see a spectacle... I do not want them to go home unsatisfied..."

"My lady... are you certain this is a just course of action?" Anomen asked, looking hesitant. Jaheira also did not look entirely comfortable, but Minsc as always showed no reaction, gladly tying the unconscious fanatics to the stake.

"I'm not always a very nice person, Anomen," Leah replied with a fake smile. "Especially not when someone threatens my friends... not like this..."

"I... understand," Anomen bowed his head. "They have been practicing this unjust punishment for some time, it appears. Perhaps... perhaps it is only right that they suffer it themselves."

"There is a certain irony in turning the tables on them, I agree," Jaheira noted, seemingly also coming to approve of Leah's decision after some internal debating. "I suppose you will want to bring Viconia along, yes?"

"Of course little Viconia will come with us!" Minsc announced cheerfully. "She is our responsibility now! Minsc and Boo will make sure that she does not run into any more trouble!"

"What Minsc and Boo said," Leah chuckled, looking at the mildly exasperated drow. "Viconia, if you please..." she said, pointing at the stake.

"Of course, _abbil_," the drow grinned broadly, uttering a short prayer to Shar, summoning a strike of flame from the sky that quickly ignited the stake.

As the five of them walked away, the crowd behind them erupted in a grand cheer at the first cry of pain from the burning fanatics.


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: I sort of wanted to cover a bit more with this chapter, but that would have made it a bit too long. So, nothing really happens aside some conversation. Then again, I think Viconia's Beregost experiences are pretty damn important to cover. It's shocking that if you are playing a female character, you miss out on so much content that truly brings both Jaheira and Viconia to life as great characters. I'm planning to take a lot from their respective romance tracks and modify it to fit the story. _

**Chapter 12 **

With no other pressing matters to attend to other than to wait on Yoshimo's return from the docks, Leah led her group back to the slums and the Copper Coronet, the only inn in this city where they could afford lodgings. Once there, Jaheira went to secure their rooms for the night, leaving Leah and Viconia to sit down at one of the more secluded small tables in the corner of the tavern, not that it afforded them with much privacy. Anomen seemed to correctly sense that the two women wished to remain alone and catch up on things, instead joining to sit with Jaheira at another table, Minsc retreating to the room he would be sharing with the young squire and Yoshimo, announcing the intent to give Boo his regular hamster bath.

"So..." Viconia started, giving Leah an appraising stare. "I was praying for some kind of divine intervention while I was tied to that stake, but I certainly did not expect it to arrive in your shape, _abbil_. What has brought you so far from the Heartlands, Leah?"

"We got jumped soon after leaving Baldur's Gate," Leah replied, wincing at the unpleasant memory. "We were taken by complete surprise, there was no way we could have stood up to those... I don't think they were mere bounty hunters. Your instincts proved right when you decided to disappear from the Gate while the rest of us were still dealing with countless party invitations to celebrate our heroic deeds."

"Yes, you seemed to be enjoying the attention a great deal," Viconia smirked. "What made you leave the city in the first place? Let me guess... the praises and the adoration ran out, and the ungrateful _rivvin_ quickly forgot that you had saved them all?"

"Something like that, yes," Leah admitted reluctantly. To this day, she did not know who had spread those rumors about her ancestry to the people of Baldur's Gate, effectively forcing her to leave the city. Now it occurred to her that it could have very well been a part of the plan by Irenicus, or the men that he had sent to capture them. "Anyway... we ended up captured by some crazy mage who locked us into his dungeon below Athkatla for many months... experimenting on me... torturing me... I guess he was fascinated by my... nature. I think you know what I refer to."

"I do," Viconia nodded. "The undeniable, hidden power within you that makes you so appealing to follow, _abbil_. You are interesting to many... myself included."

"Well, as long as you promise not to dissect me on a table somewhere, I suppose I will tolerate this interest," Leah rolled her eyes, taking a sip of the cheap, watered down wine, the only kind they could afford right now.

"Still, you seem to have come out of that ordeal without any new scars... at least not physical ones," Viconia noted, refusing to touch the wine that probably offended her delicate senses.

"I would have preferred to keep the physical ones," Leah muttered unhappily. "And that mad mage, Irenicus... Imoen is still with him. The Cowled Wizards took them away and imprisoned both of them... and I must find out where they took them. That's... essentially my goal right now."

"Ah yes, Imoen," Viconia said, scowling a little at the memory. "Well, if you're certain that having that insufferably prattling girl back with us would improve the company you keep, who am I to judge?"

"You know perfectly well that I would never abandon her," Leah spoke with a deep frown. "She is like a sister to me, and you also grew quite fond of her during our travels together, though of course you are too proud to ever admit it."

"I would have liked her far more if she had mastered the fine art of remaining silent," Viconia grinned. "It is amusing that for you simply stating that you share a bond like siblings, implies... such devotion? To a drow stating words 'you are like a sister to me' would imply that you will plot to hasten their demise by all means possible. I had to contribute to thinning the De Vir familiar herd myself... but thankfully for you, I have spent enough time on the surface to observe these stark differences between my people and yours."

"Charming cultural clue, indeed," Leah chuckled, chugging down more of the horribly bland wine. At least the more of it she consumed, the less offending it seemed to taste. "Anyway, enough about me. What have you been up to since leaving Baldur's Gate?"

Viconia's face immediately twisted with a brief reflection of anger and she looked about to grab the bottle of cheap wine and pour some of the liquid for herself despite the offending taste, but she managed to hold herself back, her expression slowly changing back to neutral. "After everything we went through, chasing after your mad half-brother, I simply needed a place where I could... stop and rest, if for a few months," eventually the drow began to speak. "But finding a place where I would be accepted seemed impossible. Finally, I tried to purchase some land on the outskirts of Beregost, using my part of the spoils we had acquired and dropping your good name when necessary. I had also learned the important lesson to stay hooded at all times, claiming that I had suffered from magical burns that made my skin particularly sensitive to sunlight. In the end I was successful and once the deal was done, a few of the locals even helped me settle in. That was when I met my closest neighbor... Roran Midfallow, a stout, sunburned farmer."

"Judging by the way you spat out that name... I take it that the two of you did not become good friends?" Leah asked, a little jokingly.

For some reason Viconia glowered angrily back at the young human before once again calming down and continuing her story. "At first we actually formed an awkward friendship. He seemed very helpful, often bringing me supplies that I had difficulties acquiring myself. It wasn't until a few months later, when on a warm summer day I grew careless and lowered my hood, allowing him to discover my identity. Much to my surprise, he did not run back to the village to summon a crowd that would come to stone me to my death. No... he simply smiled, eyeing me appreciatively and appearing intrigued..."

"Oh god... it's not... that kind of story, is it?" Leah asked, having paled a little, mentally slapping herself for joking about it just now.

"He mentioned that his oldest son, Jiscanan, was busy making a feast and that I was invited," Viconia continued in a morbid tone of voice. "We walked to his farmhouse, where his other son, a surly oaf named Funnard, was working with a sickle in the front yard. When I reached his farmhouse, I learned Roran's true intentions. Somebody hit me in the back of my skull, and the ground rushed up to meet me. I woke up to searing pain. While unconscious, they had abused and tortured me... then tried to bury their sins. I could see nothing except for the lid of a coffin."

"That is... completely and utterly sick," Leah hissed, her cheeks burning with anger from the mere thought of someone acting so despicably. "How could you possibly managed to get out of that mess?"

"By being a drow, _abbil_," Viconia smiled thinly. "The pain of their abuse and torture stung, but it was nothing compared to what I had gone through at the mercies of the Handmaidens. They had made the mistake of not killing me, so with some effort, I clawed myself out of my grave and then set about wreaking my vengeance upon them."

"Please, I want every detail," Leah begged, hair standing on her neck from the burning need to hear about these defilers suffering horribly.

"I watched the house and waited, listening to them celebrate their victory in the midst of drunkenness. Eventually, Jiscanan, the oldest son, left to use the outhouse. I jammed a stake in the door, trapping him inside. Then I set the building aflame, much like those Beshaban cultists. Soon enough Roran came running, yelling to Funnard. As he stood helpless before the flames, I wrapped a garrote around his neck... I whispered to him of his mistake to underestimate a Drow, before tightening the wire until he breathed no more. By this time the other son, Funnard, returned with a bucket from the well to find his father's corpse and his brother a smoldering ember. He dropped to his knees in shock, which afforded me a height advantage as I caved in his head with a miner's mallet."

"Good," Leah said, emptying the rest of her cup and then pouring herself more wine with slightly shaking hands. "Good... I'm glad you had your vengeance."

"I see you are not disturbed by the grim tale," Viconia said, giving Leah an approving look. "It is good to see that you agree with my treatment of these men, _abbil_. No doubt that the others would use my actions as evidence of the innate corruption of my people."

"These men abused your trust, tortured you and buried you alive!" Leah exclaimed, then clamping a palm over her mouth when she realized that she had raised her voice, but with the overall volume of the Copper Coronet being exceedingly loud, nobody had even spared a glance in her direction. "I'm sorry... and when you said that they had abused you, it probably meant... you know..." Viconia merely nodded grimly at that. "There's... no excuse that I can think of, really. You were entitled to do as you please with those pigs. I do not begrudge you taking revenge at all, I would have wanted the same in your place."

"Those months of imprisonment and torture have changed you, _abbil_," Viconia remarked, looking at Leah thoughtfully. "You always had a... quiet, serene strength about you, but now it has been given an edge of sharp steel. I find this change most intriguing..."

"I would have preferred not to go through those particular experiences, but what's done is done," Leah shrugged. "Still, I would prefer not to be reminded of my time in that sadist's care, if you please, Viconia."

"As you would have it, Leah," Viconia said indifferently, turning to look with distaste at the other, mostly drunk patrons of the place, before speaking up again. "Tell me about the way you secured the means of my release, then. I noticed that you were conversing with the prison guards before they all returned to their barracks. How did you manage to convince them to leave?"

"I told the commander of the guard that we both would reward him with... umm, shall we say, pleasures of the flesh," Leah explained, blushing slightly as she spoke. "In fact, the man should be arriving here shortly to claim his prize."

For a moment, Viconia looked a little stunned, before letting out an amused chortle. "Very good, Leah... very good, I was almost about to ask whether you actually intended to follow through with that promise," the drow laughed. "I am glad that you have taken to my advice to use your... feminine charms, when an opportunity presents itself."

"It will never be my first tool of choice, but... I could not think of anything else at the moment," Leah admitted. "Besides, I wanted to give you the opportunity to deal as you see fit with the one who had sold you to the Beshabans."

"The sentiment is... greatly appreciated, my friend," Viconia smiled, appearing grateful. "Since you obviously have no interest in this foolish _jaluk_, what would you say if I would lead this man somewhere private once he arrives? I would make sure that he is never heard from again."

"Suits me just fine," Leah shrugged. "An accomplice to those despicable practices of Beshaba's faithful... I think that removing someone like him from the post of the captain of the prison guard would be doing this city a big service."

"You are surprisingly, but pleasantly amiable, _abbil_," Viconia's smile broadened. "I cannot recall you being quite this reasonable before." She glanced across the rows of tables and the massive fire pit in the centre of the tavern, looking on at the newcomers near the entrance. "I believe there comes the man we have been waiting for, Leah. Ah yes... he will make a fair sacrifice to the Lady of Loss..."

* * *

While Leah and Viconia were animatedly talking amongst themselves, two of their companions were sat at another table, but they had barely exchanged a few words amongst them over the past half hour. Anomen's eyes kept drifting back towards the other table where the two priestesses were talking, no matter how much he struggled to keep his curious gaze away. Next to him, Jaheira had been nursing the tankard of watered-down ale in her hands for a long while without showing any intention of actually taking a sip. The druidess seemed to be observing the surroundings indifferently, and now and then Anomen caught her looking in the direction of the corpulent barkeep of the establishment, nodding as if she wanted to beckon the man over and perhaps order something, but the barkeep seemingly ignored her.

Soon enough, Anomen began to grow restless and uncomfortable at the forced silence at their table, and when both Leah and Viconia broke out in laughter over something at the other table, he could no longer remain silent, turning towards his stony-faced companion. "Lady Jaheira... might I pose a question that has been troubling me for a good while?" he finally dared to ask. The druidess looked at him, but did not speak, Anomen taking it for a permission to continue. "This... Viconia de Vir. Lady Leah seems to know and... trust her? I have heard of Drow only as treacherous creatures, my lady... what do you make of Viconia? Can we trust her?"

"I doubt you should place particular trust in her, Anomen," Jaheira smirked. "But strangely enough, I think we can trust her as much as not to betray us. Most unexpectedly, she proved to be completely loyal to Leah during our travels across the Sword Coast. At times I was deeply concerned about her traveling with our group, fearing that she might not be the best influence for Leah, especially when Viconia had only just joined our group. But she proved to be less confrontational than I feared, and Leah managed to convince me that she was mature enough to decide for herself which of Viconia's... advice to listen to, and which to ignore."

"Then we can expect no difficulties due to her presence?" Anomen looked relieved. "I am glad to hear that. The knights at the Order would be most... perplexed to find me traveling alongside a priestess of Shar."

"Oh, I can assure you that Viconia's presence will most definitely make things more interesting," Jaheira smiled thinly. "She will not make your life easy, Anomen. Sometimes she will simply seek to bait and provoke the others. Sometimes her insults will origin in her simply being who she is, and the kind of horrible upbringing her people are exposed to. She will be hurtful simply because she doesn't know any better. The key is to not respond to her provocation... something that is not always easy..."

"I see..." Anomen's face had again darkened a little as he watched Leah and Viconia at their table. "I will attempt to control my temper if the Drow attempts anything. I thank you for these words of advice, Lady Jaheira."

"I hope you remember these words when Viconia's eyes turn on you in search of a new victim to torment," Jaheira spoke, clearly not having much faith in Anomen's ability to control his temper. Their conversation died down as the druidess turned to look at the other table, watching an armored man approaching the two women and engaging them in a brief conversation. After a while, the man departed together with Viconia, looking very excited as the two of them walked upstairs. However, Jaheira had not missed the subtle little gesture of the Drow checking the dagger at her belt as her cloak had parted for a moment.

"Some of the tales I have heard of the Drow also mention this... aspect of their behavior as well," Anomen snorted, looking disgusted. Jaheira merely smiled at his outburst, not seeing the need to correct him about Viconia's true intentions, her attention already focused back on Leah, the young priestess getting up and coming to join them at their table, having been abandoned by Viconia.

"Surely you won't mind if I join your riveting conversation, yes?" Leah sat down with a quirky smile, prompting quick assurances from Anomen, unable to quite hide his obvious delight about the young Sorlyn's presence.

"Was that the prison guard commander from earlier today?" Jaheira asked, abruptly pointing at the stairs leading to the upper floor.

"Yes," Leah confirmed quickly. "The very same that sold Viconia to those fanatics. I thought it was only fair."

"Of course," Jaheira nodded. Anomen still looked a little confused, staring inquiringly at them both in turn. "Only Viconia will be returning downstairs, Anomen," the druidess finally took pity on the squire.

"Oh," Anomen only said. While the scoundrel no doubt deserved even worse than what the Drow would do to him for his perversion of justice, the young squire still felt a little unsettled by the ruthless practicality and ease with which the two women at the table discussed it, especially if in Leah's case, this jaded rationality bore such a youthful, innocent and beautiful face.

"You know, there is something strange happening in this inn," Jaheira suddenly remarked after a bout of silence. "And before you say anything, I mean something strange beyond it simply being an incredibly filthy pit of depravity. I have noticed several patrons entering and immediately making a beeline for the back rooms. As far as I see, others are not even allowed inside, the guards are there to ensure that. Some of these patrons who enter look like they might be respectable well-off citizens, perhaps even nobles, dressed in inconspicuous rags to avoid recognition."

"I have been spending a good amount of time in this cesspool of corruption, yet I have failed to notice any of this," Anomen blinked, looking rather surprised. "Your observational skills astound me, Lady Jaheira!"

"I would say that you are too easily impressed, Anomen," Jaheira smiled. "And I have certain... experience and training to notice such things. It is nothing remarkable, I assure you."

Leah nodded at that, realizing that Jaheira subtly referred to her work as a Harper. The druidess rarely spoke about her past with the shadowy organization, and while Leah was extremely curious, certain that her friend had plenty of exciting stories to share, she had always been able to reign in her interest. "Any ideas what they could be up to in there?" the young priestess asked. "Black Lotus den?"

"That would be the least harmless possibility," Jaheira grumbled. "I am worried that it could be something worse..."

"Maybe we should take the time and poke around, see what they're up to?" Leah suggested, Jaheira nodding thoughtfully. "Right now, though, I don't want to commit to something else while we're waiting for Yoshimo to return... and speaking of Yoshimo..." she looked at the familiar face of the Kara-Turan, swiftly forcing himself through the raucous crowd of patrons, waving to the rogue, but he had obviously noticed them already, heading straight for their table, choosing to sit down between her and Anomen, ignoring the slight frown on the squire's face.

"Well... that was an interesting experience," Yoshimo finally remarked, having chugged down some of the watered-down wine to help him gather his bearings. "Unfortunately, you will not be able to use the transfer documents now that I have already made use of them, so we will need to find an alternative way to get you inside Mae'Var's guildhouse... and it so happens that I have some ideas in that regard."

"If you're certain you don't want to fly solo on this one," Leah teased.

"I'm quite certain," Yoshimo replied, looking a little uncomfortable.

"Tell us what you have learned, Yoshimo," Jaheira prompted, the first one to lose patience.

"This Mae'Var is one particularly unlikable fellow," Yoshimo began to explain. "He makes Renal appear like the friendliest thief I've ever met. Of course, Mae'Var was immediately suspicious of me and made me jump through several hoops to prove my loyalty... I will not elaborate, but I doubt that I have seen the end of these loyalty tests. Oh, and young lovely, you will not like to hear this... Mae'Var loves to spend most of his time down in his personal little dungeon. It reminded me starkly of the place where we met... he's got everything down there, torture racks, all the implements... when I was led down there to be introduced to him, Mae'Var was busy working on one of his victims... let's just say that it was very unpleasant..."

Leah's face had gone pale as she listened, hands gripping the edge of the table fiercely as she was buy trying to fight off waves of nausea. "I... perhaps it was for the best that we didn't join you, after all..." she eventually managed. "I'm not certain I could have maintained my disguise in the face of all that."

"Take heart, my lady. This villain will not hurt you, we will make sure of it," Anomen gallantly offered with a supportive smile.

"I doubt that your friend Renal is someone who would refuse to torture his enemies if it could get him what he wants," Jaheira remarked simply. "But I digress. You mentioned that you have discovered a way for us to get into the guildhouse... if you truly require our aid with gathering evidence against this Mae'Var."

"Your aid would be appreciated," Yoshimo said hopefully. "And my plan is very simple... Mae'Var's guild oversees the streetwalkers operating at the docks and the Sea's Bounty, as well as several brothels of the Docks District. I made a mention that I might be able to secure the services of several upper class courtesans for a sizable cut and one of Mae'Var's lieutenants appeared interested, asking me to bring the 'merchandize' over for inspection. So, I was wondering if..."

"If we would agree to dress up like streetwalkers, and then you could get us into the guildhouse," Leah finished with a smile.

"Surely you will not agree to submit yourself to such humiliation, my lady?" Anomen asked, looking bewildered.

"Well, I'm not going to enjoy the experience, but if it helps us get the job done then why not?" Leah shrugged. "I think we can pull it off. Jaheira, what about you?"

"I am not letting you into the lion's den with only Yoshimo watching over you," Jaheira replied sternly. "And it might surprise you, but I have no issues with this kind of deception. My... line of work has required me to act in various roles... and do not even think of asking me, because I will not elaborate."

"Too embarrassing?" Yoshimo winked cheekily.

"If you knew the truth, I might have to kill you," Jaheira warned, not looking as if she was joking, either.

"And we don't want that," Leah intervened quickly, then looking up to see Viconia descending down the stairs, the Drow grinning in smug satisfaction, looking particularly pleased. Leah decided that she didn't really care to know the specific details of what had happened with the prison guard commander, instead turning to introduce the Drow to Yoshimo, the bounty hunter already staring Viconia down with a very interested look in his eyes. "Yoshimo, please meet Viconia de Vir. She is an old friend, and she will be traveling with us from now on."

"My, my, young lovely, you attract the most charming companions to your side, I must say," Yoshimo said smoothly, moving to take Viconia's hand with the obvious intent to kiss it, but the Drow withdrew it swiftly, glaring at the rogue. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Viconia," the Kara-Turan grinned, undeterred by the cool reception.

"I'm sure," Viconia snapped, sitting down and looking at Leah. "Who is this fool _jaluk_?"

"Yoshimo handles all the rogue-related issues of the group, Viconia," Leah replied with a smile. "Now, tell me, my friend..." she beamed at the puzzled looking Drow. "How would you like to do a little dress up and infiltration of a thieves' guildhall in order to spy on them?"

"I'm sure there's a reason why I should be interested," Viconia remarked listlessly.

"Well, at least dressing up as a whore will come naturally to one of us," Jaheira said, unable to stop a little chuckle from escaping her lips. "There is just one caveat, Leah," she looked at the young priestess again. "We do not have nearly enough gold to afford us passable disguises."

"Hmm... well, I'm sure that we could find something at Renal's guildhall, some black market goods that he would be willing to donate for common cause," Leah suggested. "In fact... since the evening is still young and we have nothing better to do, why don't we head over there right now and play a little game of dressing up?"

"If you truly insist on going through with this... questionable plan, my lady, I insist on joining you," Anomen said, rising from the table together with them. "You will undoubtedly benefit from the extra protection."

"Umm, Anomen... actually, I had something else in mind for you..." Leah said uncomfortably, blushing a little. "I was going to ask whether you could return to the barracks of your Order and spend the night there. I need you to gather some information for us from your fellow squires and knights... see what you can learn about Lord Jierdan Firkraag, that mage hater Valygar Corthala, and also whether someone knows something about the Cowled Wizards and what they are doing with these so called magical deviants..."

"I... see," Anomen said, looking obviously disappointed, but still recognizing the importance of the task that was assigned to him. "In that case, I resolve to discover as much as I can while back with the Order. I will report back with my findings tomorrow morning, my lady."

"I knew I could rely on you, Anomen," Leah said, placing her hand on the young squire's shoulder, noticing how he blushed immediately. "As for the rest of us... it's back to the docks!"


End file.
